Hidden Cry
by michelaski
Summary: An interesting new face joins the crew, helping out some and preocupying others. Her bad cover ups never fool the exlabrat and what started as a worry from a friend...evolves...
1. Attitude Needs No Translation

Hello! The pen name's michelaski and I decided to take a plunge(after a few gruling weeks of self doubt and asking some people for their input which I thank youguys very much for)and publish my very first CSI fic. I admit that some of the terminology won't be acurate but I'm willing to try my hardest with it and the same thing goes for the other languages that aren't Spanish, I'm Puerto Rican and that's my native tounge so...no further explinations. Since the summary's on the link you clicked might as well just write down the pairings...

**Pairings: **GregOC for the most part but there are likely chances of CathOC, GrissomSara, NickOC and WarrickOC(I just love to create characters! Noticiable?)

and of course the ever so painfull disclaimer: I don't own CSI or anything related to it...Just my OC's and that's it! Btw, takes place a bit after season five and the team's back together!

* * *

Chapter One  
Attitude Needs No Translation

"Hello Brass," said Grissom as he was granted entrance to the crime scene. Brass seemed more than a bit preocupied as he greeted his collegue and friend, Gil Grissom.

"The victim is Caroline Quiñones, age 25 and a local. Her boyfriend found her, she wasn't answering the door or his phone calls so he used the spare key to come in and saw this. Apprently the neighbors haven't heard anything but this seems to be a serial case to me...I've read something about some cases lately with the same pattern or something," Brass said as he closed his notepad, suddenly, it dawned on him. "Do you remember the international serial killer that last struck in Spain?"

"Yeah," Grissom responded. "He's all over the international news, why?"

"I want the whole night shift on this case. He just struck in Vegas..." Brass said as he picked up his cell phone and began to dial a number.

"You sure?" Grissom asked in response as he picked up his own cell phone.

"Yep, everything is the same as the last case, I'm positive," Brass responded as he left the house. Grissom called each member of the night sihft, including the pair that had their night off. If Brass was right, they'd stumbled upon a very big case.

* * *

Meanwhile...

"Hey," said a small light brown haired female as she answered her phone. She looked out the window of the building she was inside off and saw a tall guy with spiky hair answering his cell phone as well. From the look on his face, she could tell that he was disappointed and that he had been stood up. It usually happened to guys like him...she returned the focus to the person that had called her. "I'll be right there," she finished saying as she hung up, slung her bag over her shoulder and ran out, running to where she had parked her car. On the way, she crashed into somebody and nearly fell. "I'm very sorry...I'm kind off in a rush! Goodnight!" she cried and without even looking back, got into her blue BMW X5 van and drove off. The person she bumped into, just shook his head slightly, not understanding what the rush is since it was late at night in the first place. He let out a sad sigh and proceeded to get into his car and drive to work for an emergency meeting he was called to.

* * *

Back at the lab...

"Who did you call Brass?" Grissom asked as he entered the Las Vegas Crime Lab building.

"Someone. She should be well on her way in. Did you call the meeting?" Brass asked.

"Yes but we should be looking for a translator to make the calls for all the previous cases," Grissom pointed out.

"I already did, that's whom I called," Brass explained as they entered the break room.

"So...did you go out with Greg?" asked Nick to Sara as he sat down.

"Damn! I knew I forgot something!" Sara cried out in response. "No use to explain why now...he probably won't talk to me for a while..."

"You've got that right Sidle," Greg said as he came in and sat down in the far end of the table. He still couldn't believe that it happened. He thought she was better than that.

"Sorry I'm late guys, I was checking on something for my case with Catherine," Warrick said as he joined the crowd in the room.

"You're not working that case anymore, we're working the international serial case. I just recieved a partial copy of the documents in the Florida case and compared it to ours, it's the same and the CSI's in Florida compared it to the Puerto Rican case. This guy is serious about what he does..." Grissom said as he placed papers on the table for everyone to take a look at.

"Sorry I'm late Grissom," Catherine responded as she walked in.

"Don't bother explaining Catherine, just sit down. We're supposed to be having a special guest arriving soon..." Grissom replied as he looked at Brass who had answered his cell phone. He quickly noted that all eyes were on him and he quickly hung up.

"She's in the building, she should be here in about five minutes, the receptionist is giving her directions to get here right now," Brass responded.

"How do you know this translator anyway?" Grissom responded.

"She's the daughter of an old friend of mine. I haven't seen her since she was in diapers...her father gave me the number to reach her in any case," Brass responded. "She's much better qualified for this than anybody else the state would want to hire."

"Why is that?" asked Catherine.

"Last I talked to her father, she's not only excellent in languages, she also has a master's degree in Chemistry. Not only that, she worked as a CSI intern in Puerto Rico so she knows everything that happens at a Crime Lab like this one," Brass responded. Suddenly a 5'2 female walked in, bag over her shoulder, hair up in a bun, sweatpants and a tank top dressing her.

"Is this the CSI meeting?" she asked. She immidiately stopped her eyes on two people, the guy with the spiky hair that she was sure she'd seen before and her dad's old friend, Capt. Jim Brass.

"Yes and who might you be?" asked Grissom as he looked at her.

"Adriana Carrasquillo," she said as she extended her hand. "I got a call from Brass to come here, I'm the translator."

"You sure don't look like one," Greg muttered under his breath. He looked up and prepared to say something else but she beat him to it.

"You say the words "little girl" and you'll have a nice black eye to remeber me by," she said. "I apologize for that but I'm not too fond of pejudice due to my appearance."

"Understood," Grissom said.

"You look like a high school student," Catherine added.

"Yeah, I've heard plenty of those. Now, I believe that we should proceed to talk buisness, no?" Adriana responed.

"Yes but before that, do you know the case?" asked Grissom.

"I've been reading articles on it during my spare time, last time he struck was in Spain," she responded. Grissom smiled slightly at her and proceeded to ask another question.

"Apparently he's moved on to the United States and has now struck here in Vegas. How many languages do you know?" he asked.

"I know two types of English, same with Spanish, French, Italian, German and I just started to learn Norewegan last week but I'm not too fluent on it, meaning that I might need help with that one since it happens to be where he first struck," she responded. Everyone seemed impressed but...how did she learn all of that? She blushed at the sight of Grissom's wide eyes and explained. "I've been homeschooled...and I'm a quick study so..."

"Self-explanatory," finished Warrick. She smiled as she nodded. "But what do you mean by two types of English and Spanish?"

"I know British English and Normal English, meaning the one I'm speaking right now and by Spanish I mean the one spoken in Spain to the one in Puerto Rico since the one kids learn in your schools is Mexican or Spanish...I definately know it's not Puerto Rican..." she explained.

"Don't you mean our schools?" Nick asked, obviosly including her in that group.

"No...I'm uh...not from around here," she said at last.

"Where are you from precisely?" Grissom asked.

"Puerto Rico," she responded firmly. "I hope nobody has a problem with that..."

"I don't," Warrick said imediately with the others agreeing shortly after. She smiled widely and the others slowly returned it with the exception of Greg.

"All right then," Grissom said. "Since we want to catch this guy as quickly as possible, you should meet the people you'll be working with. I'm Gilbert Grissom," he said as he extended his hand. She shook it and her face lit up.

"My grandfather is an entnimologist and he's a rather big fan of your work..." she said with a grin.

"I'd be glad to talk to him sometime, now, crew introduce yourselves," Grissom said as he stood in the doorway and observed.

"Catherine Willows," said the blond female as she stood up and shook her hand. "I'm pretty sure you're going to enjoy working here with us," she said with a small smile.

"That I hope," said Adriana in response. After Catherine sat down again, a rather tall, dark toned man approached her.

"Warrick Brown," he said as he shook her hand. She looked up and couldn't resist making the comment.

"Damn...I feel shorter..." she said while everyone laughed lightly. "No offense," she finished.

"None taken," Warrick replied with a smile. Another guy with not that bad of a build in her eyes came up next.

"Nicholas Stokes, feel free to call me Nick," he said.

"Pleasure," Adriana responded. A female with shoulder length brown hair walked up to her.

"Sara Sidle," she said as she eyed Adriana carefully. They were slightly similar in physical appearance but she shook it off. Then came up a guy with spiky hair and slowly took her hand.

"Greg Sanders," he said softly.

"Sorry about my rude remark...it's just that I'm just used to respond like that when people treat me that way," she said as she looked up to meet his eyes.

"I'm sorry too, I judged you before hearing anything else. My mother's family is from Norway by the way," he added.

"Then could you help me out? I'd appreciate it a lot," she said sweetly.

"Yeah. I'll do it..." he said as he looked away from her and turned to Grissom. "I'll help her with Norway."

"That's settled then, I'm going to get the numbers from the Crime Labs you need to call, Warrick and Catherine, get to work on the evidence we have, Sara and Nick, take another look at the crime scene, come with me and I'll give you the address," Grissom said as he made his way out of the room, leaving Greg, Adriana and Brass alone.

"You've grown up..." Brass said as he walked over to Adriana. "I haven't seen you in years..."

"I barely remember you Brass...I remember you talking to dad on the phone and saying all these stories about Grissom and the night shift. I'm surprised that I've been able to meet them in person. Anyway, how'd you know I was in Vegas?" she asked.

"Your father mentioned it, he also told me to keep an eye on you..." Brass responded. "I have to go but take care of yourself."

"I will," she said as Brass left the room. She looked at Greg and noticed that he was sad about something and she also noticed that she recognized him from somewhere. "I've seen you before..."

"Yeah...you crashed into me out on the streets earlier..." he responded. Her eyes widened in realization.

"That was you?" she cried. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't worry...I now see why you were on a rush. I was too..." he said as he half smiled for the first time in a few hours. She returned it with a small blush.

"You were stood up weren't you?" His eyes widened at her question. He managed a small nodd before she continued. "Guys have been stood up in that corner before. I just figured...longtime crush?" he weakly nodded. She was figuring him out already. "You know what? You shouldn't dwell on the sad part of it. Now you know that it probably isn't meant to be and here's another piece of advice...you should bounce right back up regardless...if you stay like that...you could miss seeing the perfect girl for you...they always seem to pass by a guy when they're sulking about the latest breakup..." she said. He looked at her, wondering about what he'd see in her eyes. He could tell from the glint in them that she wasn't referring to herself and he sat down to think on what she said. _Maybe she's right..._he thought. _I've always been the master flirt...I shouldn't stop now..._he finished thinking as he looked up at the girl.

"Here are the numbers," Grissom said as he walked in and handed Adriana a piece of paper. "Now get to work Adriana, I'd like to see if Brass was right about you..."

"No problem Mr. Grissom and bay the way, feel free to call me Adri," said girl said as she scanned the paper.

"And you can call me Grissom," he said in response. "Hope you're ready for long nights..."

"Don't worry," Adriana said as she looked up from the paper. "I'm used to working long hours. This will be easy..." she said as she walked over to the phone there was in the room. Grissom nodded and left the pair alone. Greg glanced at her and saw her proceed to dial a number. She looked his way and smiled at him. He couldn't resist the urge of returning it, it was bizzarely enchanting. Apparently someone picked up on the other side of the phone and she turned her focus to the phone, speaking French. For a while she remained silent. "I'm on hold...could you bring my bag over please? I need to get a pen and I've got an empty notebook so I'll be able to keep track of everything."

"Sure," Greg responded as he got up and gave her a rather heavy bag. "What do you keep in there? Rocks?" he asked as she took it. She opened it and he tried to peer inside but she moved away so he wouldn't know its contents. "Isn't it heavy?"

"I'm used to it..._oui_," Adriana replied as she zipped up the bag and focused on the phone call. She opened a hardcover notebook to the first page and proceeded to take notes. "_Merci..._" she said as she hung up. "They've got silch...only a fiber but it's cotton used in almost every type of clothing and it wasn't a blend either...they're sending in a representative over as soon as possible with a copy of the file," she said as she picked up the phone and dialed another number. "_Guten morgen..._" Adriana said as she proceeded to speak to the German Crime Lab. Greg seemed a little surprised since she really hadn't lied...she did know the languages. She jotted down some things and hung up. "They're also sending in someone..." she said softly.

"You're going to be working like a maniac..." Greg commented.

"I just hope it all works out evenly," she said as she picked up the phone once more. This time she called the Italian Crime Lab. She took some notes once again. "G_ratzie_," she said as she hung up. She didn't even bother to talk to Greg briefly as she picked up the phone and proceeded to call the London CSI Lab. "Good morning, this is Adriana Carrasquillo calling on behalf of th Las Vegas Crime Lab. I would like some information regaurding a recent case..." she said sweetly to the other person on the phone. She stopped talking breifly as she was put on hold once again.

"How do you know what time is it there?" Greg asked. He'd been wondering about that...

"Just some simple mathematics Sanders..." she said as she turned the page on the notebook and took notes again. She hung up and burried her face in her hands. "At this rate...I'm living at the airport all day tomorrow..."

"Everyone's sending a representative?" Greg cried. She nodded and yawned before picking up the phone. "I thought you said this would be cake and you're yawning like a tired dog..."

"Well my apologies Greg but I was doing something else when Brass called and I rushed right over..." she said as she began to dial another number. "_Buenos días, les habla Andriana Carrasquillo de parte del Laboratorio de Crimen en Las Vegas, nescesito información sobre un caso que ustedes comenzaron del asecino internacional..._" she said in Spanish as she talked to the Crime Lab in Spain. "_Lo espero entonces. Muchas Gracias e igualmente,_" Adriana said as she hung up. She wrote some things down and checked another name off Grissom's list. "All that's left is Puerto Rico since Florida is on its way..." She yawned again and pulled out a chair from the table and sat down. "Oh boy..." she whispered.

"Want some coffee?" Greg asked. She looked up and shook her head.

"I'm just starved...I skipped dinner and right now I regret it..." she said as she closed her eyes for a moment.

"Want anything in particular?" he asked, eyeing her carefully, she was kind of skinny already, why would she skip dinner?

"I was doing something and it slipped my mind...and frankly I dunno...I can't think straight right now...too much math..." Adriana said as she burried her face in her hands.

"How did you know what I was thinking?" Greg asked.

"I figured from your reaction when I mentioned that I skipped dinner."

"How did you see that?"

"Corner of my eye...I'm a detailist..."

"Noted...anyway, want anything in particular?"

"Well...wait...I might have something..." she said as she opened her bag and began to rummage through it. She then pulled out a small container and grinned. "I knew I packed this before I left. You won't need to go out Greg...I made this in case I'd skip dinner again this week."

"You've done it before?"

"Yeah...I'm kind off a ditz...but it's mostly because I get so wrapped up in what I do I forget I'm human and have needs," she responded as she got up and walked to the micorwave. He walked over to where she was and picked up the phone.

"May I use your stuff to write everything down?" Greg asked as he began to dial the number and looked to Adriana. She nodded and the microwave beeped. She opened the door and a delicious scent filled the room.

"Don't look at me...focus on the phone man...you want to get this over with and take a shower to rethink about your love life no?" Adriana said as she unwrapped some utencils from the napkin and sat down to eat. Greg proceeded to speak to the Norway Crime Lab as she had her helping of her own cooking that reminded her of home. She then paid for a soda from the machine and kept eating when Grissom walked in. "I skipped dinner...Greg is calling Norway and all that's left is Puerto Rico..." Adriana said as she had another bite of her food. Grissom raised an eybrow, surprised at her response.

"You read minds?" he asked, expecting a positive response.

"No," she said after swallowing and wiping her mouth. "I read faces, eyes and expressions of both body and faces. Right now yours tells me that you thought I was really psychic. If it were true...I would've been working as a TV personality long ago. Apparently my smile is something that should be broadcast all over the world...at least, that's what my father tells me." Grissom smiled at her, which was rare of course, and sat down across from her, waiting for her to finish eating.

"Care to tell me details of all the places you've called in?" he asked as she closed the now empty container.

"London has silch. Only a shoe print but it isn't too clear...all they could get from it was that it's a size eleven. Spain had a few tagless hairs which apparently don't match the victim but since they have nothing to compare it to...they stopped there. Germany had nothing out of the ordinary and they prefered not to disclose information over the phone. France only had a cotton fiber, unblended, but Trace never found the probable source. They're sending it over hoping that the trace analist here could go further. Italy had little to add but they're sending the files over ASAP. Florida is on its way with a copy of the case and I need to call Puerto Rico..." Adriana responded as Greg finally hung up.

"Norway didn't have much to add...even if it was the first case. But someone's flying over with a copy of the file to hand deliver it to one of us," Greg said as he sat down.

"Not me...you're going to have to go to the airport with me..." Adriana said as she got up and walked over to the phone. She picked up the reciever and dialed a number that she knew by heart. "_Buenas noches. Te habla Adriana Carrasquillo de parte del Laboratorio de Crímenes de Las Vegas. Estoy bien Madeline pero eso no eso lo que nesecito sino, estoy llamando sobre un caso reciente. Si, ese mismo..." _

"She's good," Catherine said as she stopped by for the breakroom for some coffee. Adriana looked up from her notebook and waved at Catherine with a grin, greeting her. She smiled and returned the wave and sat down on the table. "Anything?" she asked Grissom as she saw him writting down something.

"Well he's been fairly clean and hasn't slacked in any of the murders, let's hope we've got something to work on in Puerto Rico," he replied as he turned to Adriana.

"_Si lo se...hablamos despues y ya tiene él el número asi que te puede llamar cualquier cosa. Nos vemos. _Bye," Adriana said as she finally hung up. She turned to the group at the table with a small smile. "He left a partial smudged thumbprint in Puerto Rico that they're bringning with the file so..."

"Jackie..." Catherine said. "She's the one that works the print lab."

"Excatly, Jackie, can work with it since it takes a while for the latest high tech stuff to get to Puerto Rico and the tech is fairly new since the old one quit..." Adriana responded as she glanced at her watch.

"Got somewhere to be?" asked Greg.

"Yeah," Adriana replied, surpising them all. "Airport. Florida is nearly here and Puerto Rico will be here in about a few more hours. The ones from Europe are coming in early tomorrow...and you," she said while pointing to Greg. "Are coming with," she said as she closed up the notebook she had in her hands. Greg nodded in response, surprising Catherine a little.

"What time do we meet and where?" he asked. Catherine was suprised even more at this. Someone had managed to have some sort of control over Greg...and he was obeying every word?

"We could meet at my place and take one car there," Adriana suggested. "Much easier." Greg nodded in response to her statement and smiled to himself. She was smater than she looked. "Yeah I know Greg..." she said as she sat down.

"Know what?" he asked, testing her.

"That I'm smarter than I look," she said as she grinned. Greg looked at her surprised that she guessed. "Guess you didn't hear my conversation with Grissom..."

"Guess not," Greg said with half a grin. He was slightly feeling like his old self again. Maybe relfecting on what Adriana said wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"By the way, they also found some wierd plastic in the vitim's body that was similar to the one found in Germany, Trace in Puerto Rico suspect it to be unrelivant to the case but since it's such a tiny frgament, it's hard to tell. Germany is sending the piece over to compare it to the one in Puerto Rico. The preliminary identifaction in Germany was a fragment of an girl's earing but they aren't to sure..." Adriana said to Grissom and Catherine.

"Why a girl's earing?" Catherine asked.

"Could be that the killer has a daughter..." Greg said.

"True..." Adriana began. "But it calso ould be something else. It was just a preliminary."

"Right," Catherine said as she got up. "I'm going to check on Sara and Nick at the crime scene. Warrick is with Al in autopsy, you should go Grissom."

"All right," Grissom said as he got up and left.

"And I," said Adriana as she got up. "Will take a walk around, to get to know this place...I will be here for a while after all."

"See you around," Greg said as she began to walk out of the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts once again. This time he was actually not that sad about it since he thought about what Adriana had told him. He noted that she didn't say what most people would say in a situation like his. He smiled again and couldn't help but deep inside thank her for giving him the push he needed to bounce back. Adriana on the other hand, was estatic to be working with the people that Brass always talked so highly off, aside from that she's a key in solving one of the biggest cases around in the US and the rest of the world for that matter. She passed by a room that had very familiar equiment and peeked inside.

"DNA Lab right?" she asked as Mia looked up and nodded. "May I come in?" Mia seemed confused as to what a mere teenager would be doing in the lab but let her in. "What are you looking at?" she asked as she noticed the microscope that was on.

"Hairs that Grissom brought in. They're all tagless," Mia responded as she changed the slides.

"May I take a look?" Adriana asked. Mia looked around and since there wasn't any sign of Ecklie, she let her take a look. Adriana happily humched over the microscope and viewed the hairs. "You're right...nothing here. Could you change it to the slide you were viewing?"

"It's a rather large ball of hair. All of it is the same color as the victim's though," Mia said as she changed the slides. Adriana changed the magnification and adjusted the microscope at the sight of something very interesting.

"The victim's a burnette right?" Adriana asked.

"Yeah...the whole hairball is from her hair. I made a visual match since I can't run DNA to be exact."

"You missed something...could you hand me a pair of gloves and some tweezers?"

"Sure but...what did you see?"

"Some black hair...I want to exctract it from the hair ball to examine it better," Adriana said as she slipped on the gloves and took the tweezers. She pulled out the slide and took a closer look, slowly managing to extact the hair. She took one look at it and smiled slightly. "It doesn't look like pet hair nor synthetic, could be human...wait, wait..." she said as she examined one end closely. "And hello skin tag..."

"What?" Mia cried as she walked over and looked at the end of the hair Adriana was examining. Sure enough, there was a skin tag present. "But how did this hair get in there?"

"Could be that while he was brusing the hair, it must've been the stress of cleaning up the brush and scattering the hairs that made it fall out or something," Adriana said as she placed the hair on a separate slide. "Take a look and see if I was right..." Mia hunched over the microscoe and after making the proper adjustments found a skin tag.

"You were right...now I need to run a test on this and hopefully we might have a suspect..." Mia said as she looked up to Adriana. "Thank you..."

"No prob," Adriana said as she removed her gloves. "See ya around..." she finished saying as she left. Mia had no time to say anything and just grinned. She almost missed that...and who was this kid? Adriana was smiling as she walked around the lab and passed by almost every lab tech's and officer's domain. Some of them took notice of the oddly dressed stranger and wondered about her presence, especially one named Conrad Ecklie. He got out of his desk and walked out into the hall, following her. She was on her way back to the break room, to check on Greg.

"Excuse me!" cried Ecklie trying to get her attention. "Little girl!" he cried. She turned around at the sound of that, he'd gotten her attention all right...Greg heard it too and looked up to see Ecklie walking over to Adriana.

"_¿Qué me llamaste?"(a/n: trnslation: What did you call me?)_Adriana asked, anger rising.

"You're not supposed to be in here," Ecklie said firmly. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You're too youg to be around here," he finished saying. He was starting trouble without knowing. Greg imidiately saw her clench her fists and he got up quickly and made his way over.

"Excuse me?" Adriana responded, giving her nearperfect English a strong Latina flavor. "Did you forget the case the night shift is dealing with?"

"The international serial killer I've been told...but that has nothing to do with you miss," Ecklie said even firmer. "Security!" Two security gaurds made their way towards them.

"Ecklie," Greg said as he took Adriana's clenched fist in his hands and started to carress it in hopes of calming her down. "She's here because she's the translator Brass recommended and Grissom hired."

"He should've checked with me, I am the asistant director after all," Ecklie responded.

"Well pardon Mr. Ecklie but I was hired since I was considered better than anyone you would consider hiring," Adriana responded rather firmly and in her normal English.

"Why is that?" Ecklie asked, the secutrity guards coming closer.

"I've been in a crime lab before and I know the workings, procedures and what forms to get for a situation like this..." Adriana responded, finally calming down. Her fist was now relxaded as her hand slightly opened in Greg's hand. He left out a small inaudible sigh of relief and watched the confrontation. "So, excuse me Ecklie, but I have the right to be here just like you, even if my work is until they don't need me anymore..." Ecklie looked this girl over and couldn't help but notice that she had a Latina temper and attitude but then again...attitude needs no translation, this girl means buisness.

* * *

Okay...very long chapter...I tend to sometimes write a lot so I hope you have the patience to stick with me throughout those chapters or those who like lenghthy chapters rejoice! Anyway, I would really appreciate a review! 


	2. Cooling Off

All righty! Second Chapter for Hidden Cry right here...I want to thank csi-sam-sanders for reviewing the first chapter. Anyway, I don't own anything asosciatted with CSI with the execption of my OC...for the time being anyway...

* * *

Chapter 2  
Cooling Off

"All right," Ecklie said. "You win," he finished saying as he put his hands up. "False alarm gentlemen," Ecklie said to the gaurds. He left without saying anything and Adriana just turned around, took her hand out of Greg's and walked into the break room with a huff. She sat down on the carpet and crossed her legs, a yoga position. She closed her eyes and Greg walked in.

"Sorry..." Adriana whispered.

"Ah...it's all right...it was bound to happen. Sooner better than later," Greg said as he sat down on a chair.

"Right," Adriana responded. "Thanks for trying to calm me down...when I lose my temper, I **lose** my temper..."

"Noted...remind me to never make you angry..." Greg said, slitghtly uneasy as to how she'd take the comment. To his surprise, she laughed and opened one eye.

"No worries..." she said as she closed her eye and took another deep breath.

"Stressed already?" asked Warrick as he came in.

"Ecklie..." Adriana said in response. Warrick's eyes widened a little as he understood.

"Oh...I heard about that...Hodges was just telling me that a teenager was being scolded by Ecklie and that Greg came to her rescue," Warrick said as he looked at Adriana.

"Partially true," Greg interjected. "All I did was stop her from shoving her fist down Ecklie's throat."

"You wouldn't be the only one around here who'd want to do that..." Warrick commented, earing a laugh from the female.

"Or so Brass told my father last they talked," Adriana said with a grin. Warrick eyed the girl carefully, wondering about her connections with Brass.

"Hey Greggo," Warrick said earning a glance from said person. "Feel better man. There's someone out there for you...just be patient," Greg just nodded and Warrick's cell phone beeped. "Mia has got something, come on Greg," Warrick said as he began to leave the room. "Adriana if you want to come, you can."

"Thanks but I think I'll stay here. Greg we leave in about thirty minutes, we're stopping by my place first," Adriana said. Greg nodded and followed Warrick to his old DNA Lab. Mia had gathered every single member of the night shift in her lab.

"Okay, Warrick and Greg are here, what's the big news?" said Nick as both gentlemen walked in.

"Where's the girl?" asked Mia.

"Who?" asked Sara. "Wait, you mean Adriana? The girl who looks like she's in her mid teens?"

"Yeah, her..." Mia responded.

"Why?" Sara asked in response.

"Thanks to her, we have a suspect..." Mia said as she handed the print out to Grissom. "The hairball had tagless hairs but in the whole mess, there was a black hair with a skin tag. I compared it to the boyfriend's DNA, no match there so there's a probability that this hair could be the killer's..."

"How did it get in the hairball in the first place?" asked Nick.

"Adriana, the girl, suggested that maybe while he brushed the hairs and cleaned the brush, the stress of this ninth murder got to him and he lost hair during the whole process of setting up the hairs," Mia said in response.

"There could be truth to that statement since David placed the time of death of the victim at about an an hour and a half before we found her," Grissom said as he handed the paper over to Catherine for her to read.

"But when did Adriana stop by? I mean she's been in the break room the entire time..." Sara said.

"Not really, she walked around for a while to get used to the Lab so she must've stopped by when she was exploring..." Greg said as a matter-of-factly. They all seemed surprised at the thought of the translator finding something that they all missed.

"We'll need to return the favor..." Catherine said.

"Apparently so," Grissom said as he made his way out. "Thank you Mia," he continued saying, now turning to the team. "We need to contact anyone she has had contact with in the last few days," the team nodded and they left the DNA Lab to work on everything else they needed to process aside from Grissom's request. Greg, on the other hand, made his way to the break room to check in with Adriana although it felt odd to check in with someone who was newer than him. He saw Adriana on the floor, cross legged and Hodges was givng her a wierd look as he made his way out.

"Saw that," Adriana said, making Hodges turn back.

"How?" he asked in response.

"I'm not blind you know..." Adriana said as she opened one eye again, like she did earlier.

"You're the teenager Ecklie was screaming at...right?"

"Not really screaming," Adriana responded as she closed her eye. "He just questioned my right to be here."

"And is it true that Sanders came to your rescue?" he asked.

"No...he just came to see what the problem was..." Adriana responded calmly. "But since you're the main gossiper around here...you love to blow things out of proportion..." Hodges was taken aback by her statement quieted down.

"Uh...right," Hodges said as he began to make his way out. "See you around." Greg just watched Hodges leave in complete amusement.

"You're my hero..." Greg said as he sat down on a chair. "You scared Hodges..."

"All in a day's work..." Adriana said as she finally got up. "You ready?"

"Yeah..." Greg said as he got up. "Need any help with the bag?" he asked as he saw her pick it up. She shook her head and proceeded to leave the break room. He followed her to the outside and they stopped in front of her van. She slid the key into the whole and opened the trunk, placing her bag inside. Greg opened the door to the passenger's side and got in as she got into the driver's side and started the car. "Nice car," Greg commented as she switched the car into reverse.

"Present from my dad," Adriana commented as she removed the car from the parking spot and drove home. They stopped at an average one story house, Greg dissapointed since he expected something extravagant. They got out of the car and she lead him in telling him to stay in the living room and that she'd be right out. Greg looked around, finding her picture wall. He got up and examined each picture closely, each of them had underneath a small caption. He kept looking around until Adriana's voice sacred him out of his mind. "Greg!"

"What?" he cried in response.

"I've been calling for you for the past two minutes, we need to get going," Adriana said as she began to make her way out. Greg followed and she locked the door as he walked past her. He took the moment to examine her during the drive to the airport, she had managed to change from sweats to a knee length skirt, put on a jean jacket over her tank top and slivery hoops dangled from her ears with a few stray bangs covering them slightly.

"How long were we at your place?" Greg asked, to break the silence in the car.

"About ten minutes," Adriana responded. "Look, I hate the silence so I'm going to turn on the radio, hope you don't mind."

"No..." Greg said as he watched her turn on the radio and raised the volume a little.

"There's nothing good on the radio right now...I wish I hadn't left my CD's at home," Adriana said softly. She kept driving silently with soft music playing in the background. Greg didn't mind the silence in his part but he did mind it from hers. "You going to keep looking at me Greg?" she asked after a while, an embarrased grin coming over his lips as he turned away.

"Is there a problem with that?" he asked in response after putting himself together.

"Not really..although I do suggest taking a picture of my face if you like it so much...it'll last a hell of a lot longer," Adriana said as she pulled over and parked the care. She turned to Greg as she turned off the car. "Wouldn't you agree?" Greg just eyed her, speechless. "We're here so I suggest you get moving. I wouldn't like to keep anybody waiting," Adriana said as she got out of the car and waited for Greg. He snapped back into his senses and got out, letting Adriana lock the vehicle. They made their way inside the airport and Greg remembered something.

"Do we have any way of getting in that doesn't involve security or all those bag checks and what not?" he asked. Adriana shook her head in response.

"We'll need to go through certain gates and areas but we'll be checked fewer times than everybody else," Adriana said as she headed in one direction, Greg close behind.

* * *

Meanwhile...

"We're close Grissom!" cried out Mia as he came into the DNA Lab. "I ran the DNA through CODIS and got a match to a guy named Anthony Carter, this guy was caught for DUI once, other than that, no current charges. I faxed his foto to the airport and they remember him flying in but they don't recall where..."

"Thank you Mia," Grissom said as he took a good look at the paper. He read the current address and after seeing that it was local, decided to make a stop and visit him personally. On his way out, he passed by Trace and Hodges was trying to analyze the small fragment of plastic that Nick and Sara found at the back of the house, where they had determined as the point of entry. They searched the back yard through and through but they didn't find much. On the other hand, Nick was with Archie, hacking the victim's computer to see if they could find anything of value. Then answering a page from Catherine to meet in the evidence room, like the other CSI's that were at the Lab.

Back at the airport...

"That was interesting," Greg said, reffering to the moment Adriana had with a security gaurd.

"You haven't seen me yet," Adriana commented as she dissappeared through another doorway. She was getting harder and harder to keep up with. Greg finally managed to reach her as she sat down on a bench. "Damn I'm exahusted..."

"But you've barely begun to work with us!" Greg cried. She looked up to meet his eyes and smiled.

"I know...but remeber...I have a life...didn't it occur to you that I was doing something else when Brass called?" Adriana said.

"Come to think of it...you did mention it..." Greg responded with a grin. "Where were you that enabled you to see that I was stood up? What were you doing there?"

"I was at a building that had a few big tainted glass windows and what I was doing there is for me to know and for you to find out..." Adriana said as she stood up. Greg turned to the direction she was facing and found himself face to face with a female with short blonde hair and green eyes.

"You must be Adriana," the female said as she extended her free hand, the other one carrying a rather heavy briefcase which probably contained the case of the serial killer. Adriana nodded as she took the female's hand and shook it. "It's an honor to meet you, although it's disappointing that it has to be in a situation like this..." Greg was confused. Why was it an honor? _She's just a translator..._he thought.

"Pleasure to meet you as well," Adriana said. "Why don't we sit down? The file looks quite heavy." She then remembered that she had company and properly introduced Greg. "This is CSI One Greg Sanders from the Crime Lab," Adriana said. Greg was surprised that she knew his rank but then remembered that her father was friends with Brass, meaning that she knew about everyone something.

"Ah, pleasure to meet you, I'm Christina from the Crime Lab in Jacksonville," she said as she extended her hand. They shook hands and Christina sat down on the bench closest to them. "Here we have some of the files from the other cases we used to compare to ours but the translations are somewhat sloppy..."

"Don't worry," Adri said with a small smile. "I'll work on them..."

"If anything, feel free to contact me, my supervisor gave me the week off so I'll be staying in Vegas. I've never been here before..." Christina commented as she handed Adri the briefcase.

"I hope you enjoy it here," Adriana said as Christina got up.

"Like I said before, if you need anything, my number is in there," Christina said. "I should be going, good luck on the case!" she cried as she slowly walked away.

"Do you think we're going to need people from other crime labs?" Greg asked as he sat down next to Adri.

"Possibly, but first we should see how far we can get before calling it either quits...or help," Adriana said as she got up.

"'We'?" asked Greg.

"Hey, I'm a part of the night shift now...well, for a while anyway," Adriana said as she began to make her way out of the airport. Greg ran up and began to walk next to her.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"To the car...I don't want to walk around with this is my arms for the rest of the night..." Adriana said.

"I could carry it for you, I mean, I don't want you to use strength you don't have..." Greg said with a sly grin.

"It's all right, you don't have too..." Adriana said with a similar girn. They just laughed lightly at one another and made their way to the parking lot. Greg finally at ease, somehow, he knew that he could trust this girl with anything.

* * *

Back at the lab...

"This guy is good," Catherine commented as she looked at the pictures taken at the scene. "But some of the things he does are confusing...I mean, why scatter tagless hairs? What's with the plastic?"

"It couldn't be a part of the muder weapon since it can be fragile, depending on the what they use and what not," Sara suggested as Catherine examined a picture of the body.

"Autopsy states that COD was a gunshot wound execution style to the back of her head although it also says that her body contained a few pre-mortum bruises. Not only that she also had severe head trauma," Catherine countered.

"Victim put up a struggle," Nick said flatly.

"Yeah and most the bruises were on her back, meaning that he had her face up while he tried to shoot her," Warrick added as he pointed to another picture.

"The one thing that confuses me is...why would he have them fight back?" Sara said as the others caught on. They hadn't thought of that yet.

"Could be that it just makes him want to kill them more...you know, it kinda gets him off on the right foot?" Nick said after a long silence.

"We need more evidence until we can support that theory," Catherine said as she went outside to answer her cell phone.

"Do you think we need to call in backup?" asked Sara as she looked at the pictures again.

"I don't think so..." Warrick said. "So far, everything we've got isn't going to be hard to process, now, if things get out of hand, I'd tell Grissom to get more people in this case."

"We could ask Adriana for help, I mean, she did work at a crime lab," Nick added.

"Yeah, as an intern," countered Sara.

"But Nick has a point, she's worked at a lab before and we might need her eyes to see what we could've missed. Like that hairball Grissom brought in," Warrick responded to Sara's counter. "We all missed that hair and if it wasn't for her, we wouldn't even have a suspect." Sara just turned away, Warrick had a point.

"That was Grissom," Catherine said as she came back in. "He went to the suspect's house, nobody was home. He asked a few neighbors about any recent activity in the house and they said that he just came back from another trip."

"So he travels a lot," Nick began. "That would give him the oportunity to commit the other murders if he was out of Vegas at the time..."

"Could be...but first we need to convict him for this murder and then we have to find a way to link him to the other murders," Catherine replied.

"Well, let's get this started," Warrick began. "I'm going to check on the bullet that Al extracted from the vic's head." he finished saying as he went to Ballistics.

"I'll see if I can get the vic's phone records," Sara said as she exited the room.

"I'm checking the vic's computer with Archie again," Nick said as he also left the room. Catherine just shook her head.

"Guess I'll pick these up," she said as she began to gather the pictures from the scene.

* * *

With Grissom...

His cell phone rang on his way to the lab and he picked it up on the first ring.

"Grissom," he said to the person on the other line.

"It's Adriana, I just picked up the cases from Florida and Puerto Rico and looked them over. They sent over everything I asked for and a few extras. The guy is pretty clean from the looks of it. Anything from your end?" Adriana said all at once.

"We've got a probable suspect but I haven't been able to reach him. Apparently he wasn't home..." Grissom replied. "Neighbors said that he went out not that long ago."

"Wait, you got a hit from the hair!" Adriana cried.

"Yes, he was caught DUI once a few months back but other than that, he has a clean record."

"Hm..." Adriana said as she proceeded to think.

"Adri! Are we going to eat or you just going to stand there?" Greg asked loud enough for Grissom to hear on the phone.

"I'll have to hang up Grissom," Adriana began. "If anything stands out to me while I look at the files, I'll call you," Adriana said as she hung up. Grissom just shook his head and hoped that Adriana would be careful with Greg, he could be quite the handfull although, from second impression he got from her was quite reassuring. He parked his car at the lab and went in, almost imidiately bumping into Sara who was on her way to look for him.

"I was checking the victims phone records that I got from Brass and she's mostly got out of area phone calls and about two made yesterday made from the same phone, which is registered to," Sara began as she read the papers again.

"Anthony Carter," Grissom finished for her.

"Yeah," Sara replied.

"We need to send his picture over to every single police office and airport in Nevada. Not only that, we need to place officers in the state exits," Grissom said firmly. "I don't want to give him the oportunity of leaving this state."

"Let's just hope he hasn't already..." Sara said as she watched Grissom head into his office.

* * *

At the airport(again)...

"So...tell me about yourself..." Adriana began as she sat down at the table of the Chilli's restaurant at the airport.

"Well...there's not much to say..." Greg began. He looked at her curiously as she scanned his eyes. She noticed that he was still saddened about the whole being stood up earlier. She let out a deep sigh and looked at him, Greg turning away from her gaze. She shakily reached up and moved his face so they were eye to eye, her hands imidiately going back to their place at the table, hoping he didn't get mad for that.

"Look, I can still see it in your eyes that you're sad...let it go...but don't act like it never happened, that way you only shelter yourself and make things worse. Move on Greg...Sara seems to be so wrapped up in her cases she seems to recognize the oppotunity too late..." Adriana said firmly.

"How did you know it was Sara?" Greg asked her quickly. He was surprised that she knew.

"I saw the glare you gave her in the break room," Adriana said simply as their drinks arrived.

"Will I ever succeed in hiding something from you?"

"You'll never know until you try..."

"So that means that there's a possibility that I'll suceed?"

"Maybe...it never hurts to try Greg," Adriana commented as she took a sip of her milkshake.

"I'll keep that in mind then..." Greg responded with a smirk as he took a sip of his own drink. "But you should tell me about yourself I mean, we are going to be working together and from what you've told me...you know plenty about us..."

"What's there to say?" asked Adriana as she started to think. "Well, I'm fully Puerto Rican, that making me a Latina girl all around though I may not have the body they stereotype them with. My mom died not too long ago, making it just me and my dad since I'm an only child, though the way I treat kids, it seems otherwise," she added. "Uh...let me think...anything else you want me to say?"

"Well that isn't much for me to go on...that's just family...I meant that I want to know about you."

"Oh!" Adri said with a small blush. Greg smiled and caused the blush to go into a deeper shade of red. "Sorry...mostly people just ask about my family so...I don't talk about myself much. I mean, I have enough with my dad being known for his company and his artistic carreer, my mom was well known as well and me...well...I'm just their daughter..."

"There's got to be something about you that people should know..." Greg began.

"Well, not really...there isn't anything that much worth knowing..."

"You sure?"

"Yeah...if anything, you'll find out later on...my life has been kinda spilled out in the Puerto Rican media...well...not all of it..."

"So you've been treated like a celebirty then?"

"Just a little...but I really don't mind much...as long as the reporters don't get stalky which thank goodness, they don't. They understand my father's requests and know that if they do that, dad will sue."

"So you're a rich kid?"

"The way you put it, it sounds like a bad thing. I just consider myself the daughter of the famous man known around as my father. Rich just talks about the economic status my family's been and I think that's labeling me the easy way which, I believe that even though you do it...you try to prove your inital label wrong..."

"You keep reading me like that and I'll never be able to surprise you..."

"Then stop acting like the serious stiff you're pretending to be and show me what the real Greg Sanders is made off."

"But this is me..."

"Nope...I can see it in your eyes...this isn't you at all..."

* * *

Semi cliffy at hand...cool. Anyway, the next chapter should be up someday soon but that shouldn't stop any of you from reviewing...I'd really appreciate it! 


	3. More Slaps and a Possible Problem

Okay...chapter three time. I would like to thank csi-sam-sanders for reviewing again and here's the next chapter. Btw I don't own CSI or anything related to it...happy?

* * *

Chapter 3  
More "Slaps" and a Possible Problem

"How would you know?" Greg asked while raising an eyebrow. This girl was good. No, wait strike that...**extremely** good.

"Look, I told Grissom this in the break room while you were calling Norway. I read eyes Greg and yours tell me that this isn't you..." Adriana said as she felt butterflies in her stomach as she said this. She wasn't being herself yet in front of him but she couldn't risk it. He moved closer to her end of the table and she backed away slightly. He noticed it but shrugged it off and kept his eyes on hers. His brown eyes scanned hers, trying to do the same thing but having no luck. She grinned as she understood what he was trying to do and thought of what to say. "What do mine tell you?"

"I don't know..." Greg began. Adriana grinned even more and shook her head.

"You see Greg...it isn't easy...but after you get the hang of it, you can't stop no matter how hard you try. I sometimes don't like being able to do this but this has more ups than downs..." she responded. "Or so my father tells me anyway...I've never kept track of it and I don't plan to...I don't want to know if it's a burden or a blessing..."

"You just know you do it and that is that..." Greg said with a small smile.

"Right," she responded with another grin. "But seriously Greg, think it through...something is stopping you from being who you really are..."

"Like what?" Greg asked. When he talked to her, it felt like talking to a therapist but this one wasn't all lectury about anything. She just talked and if he'd just let her...she just might listen...

"Fear..." Adri said shakily. "Something happened to you at the lab and though you've let go a bit...you still can't get over it..." Greg was shocked at her precision about her answer but then again, her father talks to Brass often so she would know that something happened to him. Greg took a deep breath and she could see the sadness brimming in his eyes.

"About two years ago, I was working at DNA when I smelled something funny. I turned around to see what it was when I suddenly flew out of DNA. I was at the hospital for about a week or two with burns on my back and a few cuts on my face. My hands shook like mad for the weeks after the incident until one day it stopped. People keep saying that after that, I've changed somewhat...I don't see it..." Greg responded, hoping that Adri wouldn't judge him. Adri's eyes widened slightly as she realized that he was the one that was injured in the lab explosion. She thought it had been someone else...

"I'm sorry...but you shouldn't be disapointed that it happened. It wasn't your fault and nothing could've stopped it...I apologize for the cliché...I hate to use them...but I also want you to know that maybe the whole reason you don't see that you've changed could be because you don't want to see it. Your fear could be that if you go back to being the person you once were, you could be at risk of it happening again and that's not it. Things happen Greg and you shouldn't change because of it...and this is experience talking," Adriana said seriously.

"What happened to you?"

"Well, one day I was doing something back in a theater in Puerto Rico when a stage lamp fell in a spot where I was standing in about five seconds prior to its fall. Not long after that, one of the explosions for a perfomace backfired and something that had flown away from its original position due to the that, broke the galss I was painting, shards of glass landed on me. My face was full of cuts and I had a severe through and through in my stomach. I was so afraid of it happening again, I stopped doing what I had been doing and changed everything about myself, I even lived here in Vegas with my father, due to some buisness he had here, to try and forget the incident. One day, I met someone who taught me that I was better off being my old self than the one I invented. I did some thinking and slowly acted how I used to be, completely replacing my invention. When the time came to move back to Puerto Rico, I had gotten over it and was ready to be me again since I knew that changing who I was wasn't going to stop the bad things that were meant to happen to me happen..."

"Wow..." Greg said as he started to think again. He scanned her face and remembered that earlier she had no makeup on and recalled seeing no scars. "Your face looks flawless...I can't even tell..."

"That's why I will always owe a big thank you to my uncle...he's the best plastic surgeon in Puerto Rico and thanks to him...I don't have any scars..." Adriana said. "Even the through and through isn't visible. Just a little from behind but that's it...but to sum it up...Greg, changing who you are won't stop things from happening." His eyes had gone from the table to hers constantly for the past few minutes and he still couldn't believe that the girl before him had witnessed a situation similar to his. _Small world_, he thought at the back of his mind. "I'm going to keep my big mouth shut...you deserve the silence..." Greg just looked up and saw that she had left. On her napkin she had written 'Bathroom, I'll be back in about five.' Greg smiled to himself slightly as he noticed that she seemed to think of everything. He thought for a while and excatly five minutes later, Adriana came back.

"You seem to think of everything," Greg said as he looked up and met her eyes. Adriana gave him a confused look until he pointed to the written napkin.

"Oh! That..." Adriana said with a small blush. "And in response to your statement, I don't..."

"Really?" asked Greg. "Why's that?"

"Something I don't want to share right now..." Adriana responded. Greg took it as a cue to change subject and did so.

* * *

The next evening at the lab...

Greg walked in with a little more pep in his step and he had Adri to thank for that. After Greg changed the subject they talked a little about what lead them to Vegas. After Adri dropped him off at the lab earlier that day, he could tell that he wasn't going to regret telling her all that he did. He looked around for a sign of Adri and after seeing none, settled down in the break room with the file from Norway. It had been an hour and still no sign of Adri, soon his cell rang and he answered, thinking it was Grissom.

"Sanders," he said to person on the other line.

"Greg?" asked a weak female voice.

"Adri?" he asked, getting slightly concerned she sounded preocupied.

"Yeah, it's me...look, I'm going to be a little late...I guess you've noticed it a little already but I just got caught up on something and I'm making my way there right now," she responded before sneezing.

"Are you all right?" Greg asked at the sound of the sneeze.

"Yeah, it's just a momentary allergy attack that I get about once every so often...I'll be fine Greg, just cover for me...I'll be right there...Bye," Adriana said as she hung up, leaving Greg with about a hundred questions in his head. At that Grissom came in and noticed that Adri wasn't there.

"Where's Adriana?" asked Grissom.

"Oh, she's uh...in the bathroom. She should be back later," Greg said, thinking quickly.

"Page me when she gets here," Grissom said while leaving. Greg had the deep feeling in his gut that Grissom knew that he had been lied to...but he just couldn't understand his boss sometimes. At that last thought, Adri burst through the break room doors, flopping down on the nearest chair, not realizing that Greg was all ready on it.

"Hello to you too," Greg whispered as she opened her eyes suddenly. She got up in a flash and apologized profusely as she tried to hide the blush creeping onto her cheeks.

"I am so sorry...I'm just..." she began, trying to speak.

"Ah, it's all right...it's not like it's the first time it's happened..." Greg said as she finally calmed down. She sat down across from him and began to snack on some chocolate kisses.

"Feel free to have some," Adriana said as she placed the bag on the table and got to work. Greg took some chocolates and Grissom came in admiring the pair that was hard at work.

"Nice of you to come Adri," Grissom began, causing her to glare at Greg before turning to Grissom.

"My apologies...I was off doing my other thing and got caught in a traffic jam..." Adri responded, causing Grissom to raise an eyebrow. "I know I need to dedicate myself to this full time but I also have something else that requires my attention..." Grissom nodded, understanding now and decided to have a word with Brass to see if he had anything to add.

"All right then...I just wanted to see if you had your priorities straight..." Grissom said as he left the room. Adriana picked up the Italy file and procceded to work on it when Catherine walked in to see how they were doing.

"Well?" she asked as she turned to her fave ex lab tech turned CSI and the newbie.

"I've got nothing..." Greg began.

"I do..." Adriana said as she pulled out phone records. "According to these she recieved a few calls from a local hotel. The Lab called and got guest registries, which should be here..." Adriana continued as she pulled out another mound of papers. She began to leaf through the pages effortlessly and quickly. Catherine stared, completly amazed. "Speed reading course. I took it once on my own and then my father made me take it again..." she explained as she finally found what she was looking for. All right, the phones in each hotel room have their own extentions and the one the Italian vic recieved calls from...was from the same room which was being occupied by our main suspect, Anthony Carter."

"He's got the oportunity in one of the cases then..." Catherine said flatly.

"I haven't checked the phone records for the Norwegan victim..." Greg said as he began to go through the papers he had on his side of the table. "Here," he said as he handed them over to Adri. "I'll check the vic and you check the hotel's numbers. I know you can't read the language well but your eyes could help me out on this one..."

"No prob," Adriana said as she began to scan the pages. She stopped abruptly and grinned. "Hello Mr. Carter..."

"He's there too?" Greg cried as he got off his chair and walked over to read what she was reading.

"That's something they failed to note in the records..." Adriana said as she read the Italian files. "It's not here."

"Norway doesn't have it either..." Greg said as he looked his file over. "Think they were bribed to not write it down?"

"Nah," Catherine interjected. "If that were true, we'd be in the group as well and as far as I know...nothing has come that could add to that theory..."

"Maybe they just didn't notice it in the rush," Warrick suggested as he came in for a cup of coffee. He had overheard a bit of the conversation already.

"Warrick's got a point," Adriana said in agreement. "Everybody's seems to have worked these cases though thorughly, but in some sort of rush..."

"Well not this one..." Greg said as he looked at the first page of the Norway file.

"Well Greg," Adri said. "That was the first case so they must've put in a lot more time into it but as the killings progressed and he became a serial, everyone tried everything quickly to see if they had the capability to catch him and so far...none of these places had any luck with it..."

"It's not about luck you know..." Warrick began.

"Yeah, leave that to the gamblers," Adri said without thinking. She then slapped her forhead as she realized what she said. "I am so sorry Warrick, I didn't mean it the way it sounded..."

"No, it's okay," Warrick said reassuringly. "I know you didn't mean it..."

"Still...I'm sorry," Adri said as she changed the page on her notepad to a fresh one. Catherine decided to leave and check on her evidence with Mia.

"How's it coming along?" asked Warrick as he looked over Adri's shoulder.

"Easy..." Adri said in response. "I've translated harder things..."

"What about you Greggo?" Warrick asked as he moved to Greg's side of the table.

"Without having you looking over my shoulder I could do better..." Greg commented as he looked up and glanced at Adri. She looked pretty much the same as last night, sweatpants and a tank top. Her was up in a bun again and she had no earings. He also noticed some fresh sweat on her back and a half empty bottle of water in her bag. "Why are you going to the gym when you're perfectly slim?"

"Oh?" Adri said as she snapped out of her trance. "Oh...I don't go to the gym..." Adri responded after a while.

"Then what's with the sweatpants?" Greg asked.

"You know that curiosity killed the cat right?" Adriana said as she got up and pulled out something from her bag.

"You're not going to tell me are you?" Greg asked, Adriana smirked. He was catching on...

"Nope," Adriana said. "I'll be right back," she finished saying as she walked out of the room. Greg returned his gaze to the files before him, missing the prefectly excecuted flip in the hall. Warrick raised his brow in confusion but decided to leave that alone. He kept drinking his coffee in silence and Adriana came back, knee high sweats on instead of the long ones. "Much better," she said to no one in particular. She sat down on the table and proceeded to work. Warrick just eyed her curiously and she noticed. "Penny for your thoughts Warr?"

"No...I'm fine Adriana," he answered. "I'm going to leave you two to work..."

"Later Warrick," Greg and Adriana responded in unision but failed to notice. After a shared work silence, Greg put his pen down and looked at Adriana. She looked up after a while, knowing that something was on his mind that didn't involve the file before him.

"I'll ask the same thing I asked Warrick, penny for your thoughts?" she said as she returned her focus on the papers before her.

"What do you mean by that?" Greg asked. "I thought you hated clichés..."

"Yeah but this one happens to be one of the few I use..."

"Look, I was wondering...why are you being so secretitive about what you're doing outside of the lab?"

"Well Greg," Adriana said as she put her pen down for a moment. "I guess it has something to do with the fact that after this case is cracked...I won't be needed and you won't be seeing my horrid face anymore..." she said as she got back down to work.

"Your face isn't horrid..." Greg said as she bit her lip. Uh-oh...she let something slip. "It's adorable..."

"Thank you," Adri responded. _For trying to change the truth that's imbeded in my head..._she finished in her thoughts.

"I'm serious..." Greg said as he sensed something wrong in this picture. He quickly diverted the subject to the original one and to give thought to Adri's reaction later. "I mean, we might need you later on..."

"Yeah, when the next international serial killer strikes..." Adri said with a sarcastice tone.

"Oh come on...you're input is something we could use..."

"On Pluto..."

"Why do you always do that?"

"Do what? Dodge compliments?"

"Yes."

"I've never thought of myself as of much use..." she said, quickly regretting it. She had let something else slip. Greg just looked at her in shock, he couldn't believe what she had said. Something was terribly wrong in her head...where was the girl he met yesterday? "Sorry..." Adriana said as she got up and started to walk away. Greg got up and grabbed her arm gently and turned her to face him. He swore he could read her eyes just then and see all the fear they held. Adri's mind was racing, she tried to read him but having a hard time. Greg then let her go and she relaxed slightly. "I tend to talk too much when it comes to my work..."

"You sure it's just that?" Greg asked as he raised a brow. She nodded and gave him half a smile. Greg shook it off, wondering if she was trying to hide anything else. He tried to imitate the way she looked at him but had no luck.

"Practice...you might be able to do it someday..." Adriana said as she sat back down.

"You think so?" Greg asked as he walked around.

"Yep," she responded as she pulled her MP3 player out of her bag.

"You're going to listen to music and ignore me?"

"What? You got anything better?"

"Well, I was hoping we could talk a bit..."

"You're suggesting...?"

"Come on...tell me what you do before you come here! I wanna know!"

"You'd find it stupid...now leave me alone if that's all you're going to ask..."

"Try me..."

"Nope," Adri said as she switched the MP3 player on and lost herself in the music. Catherine walked into the breakroom again, a small smile on her face.

"Greggo!" she called out, Greg turning to her and momentarily forgetting about Adriana. "I need a favor..."

"What kind of favor?" Greg asked. He didn't like where this was going.

"Sam Braun," Cath began.

"Your dad."

"Yes, him. Gave me some tickets to a ballet show so I could take Lindsay but unfourtanately, we're in this case and I can't do it...would you do it for me?"

"A ballet show? Me?"

"I can't ask Sara and none of the others guys would do it."

"What about Adri?"

"Take her with you if she wants to go, from the looks of it, she'd be interested."

"How so?"

"She seems like a sweet, cultured girl. Besides, consider it a 'date.'"

"Oh come on Cath...you're not serious about that last part are you?"

"Give me until the end of the week...which is actually when the show is so I suggest you think it through..." Greg just looked at Catherine with confused eyes as she grinned. "You're going and that's that..."

"Fine..." Greg said as he sat down. He lost this battle for sure...Adri looked up to see him a little frustrated. She decided to get back to work but with the music in her ears. It'd be a lot safer for her if she didn't make conversation for a while. Greg just watched her, his eyes scanning every inch of her that he could see. He still didn't understand why she would consider herself useless.

"Something doesn't add up..." Adri said as she turned off her MP3 and threw her pen. "This guy did it but there's no motive...well, at least in this case..."

"Why don't we look through all the phone directories? That way, we could nail him for the oportunity then, it'd just be a matter of evidence..." Greg suggested. Adri looked up and a smile decorated her features.

"All right then, let's get to the phones," Adri said with a smirk and got up.

"Right back at ya..." Greg said as they began to pick up the files and sort through them.

* * *

With Grissom...

"Brass has got the suspect in custody and we're soon getting a warrant to search his house," Grissom told his team in his office. "We've been given his car to work with for the time being."

"That's something..." Nick began.

"Let's get to work, we're on the clock, the only thing that's keeping this guy in custody is DNA evidence..." Grissom said as his cell beeped. "It's Greg and Adriana," he said as he checked the message. "Apparently they've got something...here's the keys Cath," Grissom finished saying as he tossed the keys to said female. She opened the car as the others got to work. Grissom made his way out of the garage to the break room, wondering what they had. As he got closer, he could hear the estatic cries of a female, Adri. Once he came in, they quieted down. "What have you got for me?"

"I was checking the Italian vic's phone records when a number from a local hotel popped up twice, I then checked hotel registries in the file and found Mr. Carter on it," Adri began.

"Same with Norway..." Greg added.

"Greg then suggested that we check the rest of the phone registries to see if we found the same thing..."

"Which was really hard to do but thanks to Adri's speed reading..."

"Just get to the point you two!" Grissom exclaimed, mildly irratated but with a little surprise that Greg had acted like his old self.

"Well, Mr. Carter is in all of the hotel registries and it so happens to be that the call originated from his room," Greg said.

"And I just noticed that all of the calls were made at around the same time..." Adriana added.

"And the day after he made those calls, he checked out..." Greg pointed out. Grissom seemed to understand the rest and grinned.

"Griss!" called out Warrick as he came in. "Nick found a gun in the suspect's back seat and took it to Bobby to compare it to the bullet found in our victim."

"Do you have the others?" asked Adri. Warrick shook his head as Adri went over to a box that was under the table and opened it. "Thought so..." she said as she picked up some evidence bags. "Here's the bullets that were extracted off the other victims. If these are a match to the gun we have, it's case closed," she finished saying as Warrick took the bags and ran off. Greg was slightly disappointed at the sound of those words. He didn't want Adri to leave...

* * *

Yeah I know...the thought of Greg at a Ballet show seemed kinda wierd to me at first too...but you'll get it soon...Anyway, I also want to note that I don't mind getting one review everytime I put up a chapter but...I would like it if others showed support as well...with that said, until next chappie! 


	4. Slipping

Hey people! Laski here, updating, no surprise there. Anyway I before proceeding to the chapter I'd like to thank csi-sam-sanders for reviewing again(you'll just have to wait and see...he could get the girl but **how** will he do it? you'll find that out later on...) and CatherineLouise(I'm good with English it's just that I barely know other languages aside from that and Spanish and the very same day you reviewed, I had updated...so I guess that's self explanatory...)

Okay slight spoilers for season one's Tablestakes but that's it...I think...and I don't own CSI or anything associated with it...just Adri...

* * *

Chapter 4  
Slipping

"I wouldn't say that now Adriana..." Grissom said, partially scolding her.

"We do need motive but I've got an idea...may I please go with you to the suspect's house?" Adriana asked. Grissom seemed taken aback from her question and regained his compsure but before he could ask why, Adriana responded. "I get the feeling that this was some sort of jealousy thing...and I have a theory but I'd like a look at the suspect's place..."

"You only worked as an intern..." Grissom responded. That's when Greg noticed a letter in the Italian file, written in English and addressed to Grissom.

"This came for you in the Italian file," Greg said as he handed Grissom the envelope. Adri's face fell only slightly but regained her compusure as Grissom read it. He then looked at Adri who just nodded in response and he half smiled.

"It's in my car..." Adriana responded to Grissom's look. He then fully smiled at this girl's responsabilty.

"All right then, I guess you're coming with me..." Grissom said as he signaled her to follow.

"What about me?" Greg asked.

"Get your kit, you're coming too," Grissom said as the pair made their way down the hall, Greg trailing behind them. They stopped at Adri's car, where she picked up her kit and as did Greg who was surprised that she even carried one. "Restocked?"

"Just for this very case...thought I might need it..." Adriana responded as she got the front seat in Grissom's Tahoe. Greg just watched her in awe, she carried a kit? That would mean that she had been a CSI before...his guess is that it was in Italy.

"You worked in Italy?" Greg asked.

"Yeah, for about five years but I then moved to Vegas for a change of scenery," Adriana responded.

"Your tutor with you on tow..." Grissom added.

"Yep. He was like my second father," Adriana finished saying.

"Don't mind my asking, but how could your father afford that?" Grissom asked.

"Brass never told you?" Adri asked.

"Told me what? Oh wait, he did mention something about your father being recognized somewhat locally back in Puerto Rico and that he was planning to move to the US," Grissom answered.

"Right, but so far, he hasn't had much luck with that..."

"Hm...I see..." Grissom said as his voice trailed off. They finally came to a stop at the house, and they got out of the car, kits right there with them. They slipped on their gloves, turned on their flashlights and began to explore the house. Adriana walked in between the two males, examining everthing Grissom didn't shine his flashlight on. Grissom suggested as they reached the hall that Greg and Adri go together while he explored another room. Greg and Adri began to search the main bedroom and after a long awkward silence, Greg decided to break the silence.

"So...you've got somebody special?" Greg asked, almost sure that the answer would be positive.

"Nope..." Adriana responded simply. Greg was surprised at that, he thought...

"You give such good advice on love, I thought you'd be taken..." Greg responded.

"Ain't that a bitch?" she replied sarcastically. Greg could then tell that she didn't like the topic of his choosing and seemed hurt by it.

"Nevermind..." Greg said, trying to get her to forget. She smiled slightly at his feeble attempt but let it slide.

"It's okay...at least you let up quicker than other people," Adriana responded, causing him to stop and think again.

"You serious?"

"Would I lie to you Greggo?"

"Not really..."

"The there you go," Adri said as they worked in silence once again. Suddenly, Adri stepped on a hollow floorboard. She jumped a little on the spot and knew that there was no denying what she was hearing. Greg obivously heard it too since he stopped looking around and turned his focus on the area Adri was jumping on.

"Reminiscing?" he asked with a smirk.

"Nope," she said as she stopped bounding and bent down to exmine the floorboards. "This one's hollow..."

"That would mean?" Greg asked as he saw Adri pull out something from her kit and pried the floorboard loose. Greg seemed surprised as she managed to do that quickly and shined her flashlight on the hole she created. "Grissom!" he called out. Adri pulled out a stack of papers and pulled out some other trinkets. "What'd you find?"

"If my nose is working...scented love letters..." she said as she opened one up and Grissom stepped in.

"What have you got?" he asked.

"I have no clue," Greg said sincerely along with a nervous grin.

"I do..." Adri said. "But I need to take these to the lab to translate...it'll take me days..." deep down Greg was starting to celabrate.

"Why's that?" Grissom asked. "I thought you took a speed reading course."

"I did," Adri said as she stood up. "But a lot of these letters are lengthy and some are hard to read...but if you have patience, we'll be able to nail him for motive...just give me time."

"As long as you give me reports every so often, you've got yourself a two to three days if you work nonstop..." Grissom said. Adri shook her head and spoke up quickly.

"I'm really busy with something else and it can't wait much either...but I'll try to do it in at least three to four nights..." Adri said, hoping to compromise.

"All right," Grissom replied. He had a feeling that she was doing it for some occult reason that she wasn't willing to share. Adri grinned at Grissom's agreement and shook his hands.

"Deal," Adri said with a grin. "Greg, I need you, there are quite a few in Norwegan and we need to process these before doing the translating..."

"I'll call Nick to see if he can picks us up so we can get to the letters right away," Greg said quickly as he left the room.

"Could you help me out Grissom...the letters don't seem to stop...might take longer to sort through...at depends after I look them over," Grissom kneeled down and proceeded to pull more bags out of the hole and giving them to Adri, who was bagging some of them and sorting those she deemed important.

"The letters are getting more and more recent...it's like he stored them upside down..." Grissom wondered aloud.

"Could be that he dumped them all in a rush to get out of here..." Adri commented.

"Possibly..." Grissom responded. He noticed that the sparkle in her eye was bright although something had dimmed it a little, same with Greg. Deep down, he began to get the feeling that these two had more in common emotionally than he thought. He wondered what would cause the slight dim in Adri's eyes. They kept working in an odd form of silence since Adri was humming a tune that was hard for Grissom to identify. After a while Greg stepped in with Warrick and Sara behind him. "We just need to bad this last bunch," Grissom said as he handed Adri the final bundle of letters. "You should search the rest of the room. We're almost done here," Grissom said as Adri closed the last bag.

"Greg?" Adri began as she proceeded to pick up the many bags. "A little help please..."

"Sure," Greg said as he walked over to her, his shoulder lightly touching Sara's as he did so, he kinda liked the touch but he knew that it wasn't going to work out. _Move on..._he told himself. _She forgot the date and hasn't done anything to make up for it either..._he reminded himself. _Adri brainwahsed him!_ cried one of the voices in his head. _If she did, why didn't I ask her out last night then? _he said to the voice.The little voice remained silent and he took it as a sign. He'd begun the healing process on with Adri's advice and was moving on his own way...

"Thanks," Adri whispered as they made their way outside and to Nick's idle car. Sara ran back out, the kits of the pair in her hands. "You get in Greg," Adri said as she finished placing the bags in her arms in the trunk of the car. "I'll be right in..."

"Nah...you go in..." Greg said as he noticed the approaching female. Deep down he hoped that they'd get a second chance. Adri eyed him carefully and decided that he needed to do this on his own. She'd given the push...he just needed the strength to bounce back on his own. When Sara finally reached the car, Adri already had left and taken the front seat. Inside, Nick was curious as to why Adri was searching a suspect's house since she wasn't even a CSI.

"Adri," Nick began as he tried to put his question into words. "Why were you at the house?"

"Grissom let me go," Adri said simply.

"Yeah, I understand that...but why?" Nick asked again.

"Look, she worked as a CSI somewhere...because of that and the fact that she brought her kit for the very purpose, made him agree..." Greg answered as he climbed into the car's backseat.

"Thank you for answering my question Adri," Nick said sarcastically as he pulled over in the Lab's parking lot. Greg got out and opened Adri's door and she smiled at him. "I'm going back to the house so unload the car so I can make my way over there," Nick finished saying while Adri closed the passenger door. Greg and Adri made their way to the back of the car and proceeded to take out everything they obtained at the suspect's house. Adri held all the evidence bags while Greg took their kits out and placed them on the pavement. He then closed the trunk and Nick took it as a cue to leave. Adri was already inside when Greg returned his focus on the world. Greg walked in after her and followed her into one of the evidence rooms.

"You ready to sort through these?" Greg asked. She nodded in response and proceeded to pull out more bags.

"We need to open these and sort them by language, that way, it'll be easier for me and you to translate and if we can do it by date, even better..." She said as she opened one evidence bag.

"That way, we can create a timeline..." Greg added.

"Precisely..." Adri said as she spread all the letters from the bag out. Greg picked up the first one and opened it. Adri picked up another one and opened the envelope and examined it. "Hey, there are hairs in here..." Adri said in surprise. "Be careful when opening letters Greg..."  
"Got it," Greg said as he put the letter down and checked the envelope of the letter he'd opened. "Nothing in here," he said as he returned his focus on the letter he'd opened. "This looks like a guys handwritting...but I can't quite make out the language."

"Try and read the first one for me...or spell it. Whatever works for you..."

"Well...starts with a G...I think you said it when you spoke to one of the Crime Labs..."

"_Guten morgen..._that's German...place it right here..." Adri said as she pointed to a card that read "German." "I did that just now...don't look at me like that..." Adri said as she returned her focus on the letter she held. "Female hanwritting, Frech and it was early this year..." she said as she placed it by the card that read said language. They kept working in a shared silence until I spoke up. "I hate this silence...do you mind if I put on some music?"

"No!" Greg said with a smile. "Please do! What do you like to listen to?"

"A lot of things..." Adri said as she made her way to the door. "I'm going to get something from my car. I'll be right back," Adri said as she left, leaving Greg alone with the love letters. They had a small pile of hairs that they needed Mia to analyze and compare to the other victim's of which they already had DNA samples courtesy of Adri's phone calls. Greg was thinking about the whole Sara situation when Adri walked in with a boombox in one hand and in the other a rather buldgy CD case. "Care to help me here?" she asked. Greg immidiately took off one of his latex gloves and took the boombox from her hands and plugged it in. "Want to listen to some Simple Plan?"

"Sure...do you have their latest album?"

"You mean 'Still Not Getting Any'?"

"That one...could you put in the song tittled 'Shut Up'? I'm kinda in the mood for it..."

"Sure..." Adri said as she picked out the CD from her case. She pushed a few buttons on her boombox and before playing the song turned to Greg with a big grin. "Want to blast it?" Greg looked up and his eyes widened slitghly at the question.

"You kidding!" he cried. "I loved to do that while I was stuck here as a lab rat! I stopped though..." Greg finished saying as he started to think about why.

"You stopped because you didn't want Sara to think of you as inmmature..." Adri finished for as he looked up with a nervous smile.

"Guilty," he said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"It's okay...now you want to make up for lost time and I couldn't agree more...besides, the biggest complaint I occasionaly got while I worked in Italy is that no matter where I was, they could just follow the loud music to find me..." Greg smiled thinking that this girl was becoming even cooler in his eyes.

"You serious?"

"Yep..." Adri said as she hit play and raised the volume, allowing the song to fill the room entirely. Greg smiled as the song began and couldn't help but bob his head to the music for a while. Adri found herslef dancing around and they soon were dancing around the evidence room table, air guitars and all. When the song came to a close, Greg stopped the CD, laughing like a five year old. Adri stopped dancing and turned to him. "What?"

"We just danced around like idiots..." Greg pointed out. "Doesn't it matter to you?"

"Nope!" Adri said with a grin. "I had fun..."

"Me too..." Greg said as he flopped down on a chair. "I missed dancing around like that..."

"You've done it before?" Adri asked, slightly intrigued.

"Yeah, I remember that I was analyzing this headress about five years ago and after I was done processing it I was tempted to put it on. I caved and started dancing around..."

"Lemme guess, match match, boom boom?" Adri said, surpresing her laughter.

"Oh yeah, but you should have seen me...it was huge and it had peacock feathers if my mind doesn't fail me...it also had these gold beads and I swear...I looked freaky..." Greg said as he told the story, Adri fell to the ground laughing since she couldn't hold it in any longer. Greg admired her honest laughter and left it for her imagination. "I see you got the mental picture..." what he got in response was a more quiet laugh as she began to calm down.

"I'm so sorry Greg...it was just too much..." Adri said as she sat up. He got up from his chair and was about to extend his hand to help her up when she did it on her own. He seemed a little confused as to what she had done but shook it off as he sat down again. "I don't remember laughing that much since...oh God...I don't remember...has it been that long?" she whispered, hoping that Greg was far and hadn't heard anything. On the contrary, he heard every word and was concerned.

"You ok?" Greg asked as he noticed that the serious look on Adri's face had turned into a sad one. She looked up and forced a small smile.

"I'm fine," Adri responded. "Let's just finish this so we can go. Shift is almost over..."

"Right," Greg said as they inmmersed themselves in the bunches of letters and various hair samples. Adri after another while turned the radio on and station surfed until Greg told her to stop at his fave station and asked her to raise the volume. They kept sorting through the letters, one unsure of what to say and the other slightly nervous. Greg looked up for a moment to see Adri's hand shaking slightly. "You ok?"

"Hm?" Adri said as she looked up and met his eyes.

"Your hand has been shaking..." Greg pointed out. _Damn...spending too much time with this guy could really do something to me...he's getting more worried by the hour and we barely know each other!_ Adri thought as she prayed to God that he hand would stop shaking. It finally did and she let out a deep sigh of relief.

"I'm fine Greg," Adri responded as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I've been under a lot of pressure lately..." she said. It was only half true...something else had her all jittery for the past few hours.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm sure...and no, I won't drop the other thing because it is very important to me as well," Adri said firmly.

"Ok then...I won't pester you about that then..."

"Thank you..."

"Could you turn it down here!" Hodges cried as he came in to try and stop the ruckus. The other lab techs were behind him, mostly for curious reasons, not for the loud music. They weren't surprised to see the translator having fun since she gave off the vibe but they were slightly surprised to see Greg enjoying loud music again.

"Sure man...don't get so angry about it...It's just music after all...but I wouldn't want you to get your grandma panties up in a bunch..." Adri said as she went over to the boombox and turned it down a little.

"Thank you and I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Hodges said with a forced smile as he closed the door and left. Greg and Adri just looked at each other with wide and confused eyes(in Greg's part) before falling into fits of laughter. When Grissom and the others came back from the scene to check on them, what they saw was a translator and a CSI laughing continously.

"What's so funny?" Nick asked as he looked around. Adri began to clam down and straightened up.

"Well...it all started with..." she began as her eyes moved from Nick's eyes to Greg's face. She began to bite her lip to control her laughter. "Music and then we...and then Hodges, then I said...could you stop that Greg?" Adri said as she bit her lip harder. "Grissom, give us a moment..." Adri said as she looked at the CSI's that stood in the doorway. Greg's laughing slightly increased as the song they were hearing when Hodges came in palyed on the radio and Adri felt like laughing herself. "We..." Adri said as she stifled a laugh. "Greg stop laughing!" she said as she began to laugh again.

"It's no use talking to them like this..." Sara said irritated slightly. "I'm not going to stand here and wait for them...I'm going to check the pieces of plastic we left in trace and see how they match the ones the representatives brought in..." she said as she left.

"Yeah...anything we say could make them laugh in the state they're in..." Warrick commented as Grissom closed the door. They waited outside for about five minutes before opening the door once again. The pair was finally calm and Adri pointed to the bags with the hair samples that needed to be taken to DNA which Greg picked up and walked off without another word.

"Sorry guys, it kinda started with Hodges complaining about the loud music and I snapped back saying an old cliché and instead of saying boxers I said granny panties..." Adri said with and embarrassed face. Nick and Warrick turned away and supressing laughter. "Anyway, after he left, we just talked by looking at each other in the eyes and we just started laughing. We started throwing out one liners about the comment and what not and well...it escalated..."

"All right then..." Grissom said as he eyed her curiously. "Anything with the letters?"

"We already separated them by language. We also found some hairs and Greg took those to Mia, along with DNA samples of the victims," Adri responded.

"You've done a good job...I guess you may leave early tonight. Greg too," Grissom said as said person came in.

"Awesome!" Greg cried with glee. "Hey Adri, want to get some breakfast together to celebrate a job well done?" Greg asked.

"Nah...I need to catch up on my ZZ's...I've got something at noon and then I'm coming here at seven, latest seven thirty," Adri said as she began to make her way out of the room. She was halfway down the hall when she turned around to pick up her things. "I can't believe I almost forgot these...anyway, if you're willing to wait a while...a rain check sounds about right..."

"Perfect," Greg said quickly with a smile. "I'll see ya tonight then..."

"Of course...I can't loose my Norwegan expert now can I?" Adri asked as she began to make her way out of the room yet again. Nick and Warrick seemed impressed and Grissom just shook his head. This was not the type of bodning he had in mind...

* * *

All righty! Chapter four done...and five might be up sometime this week, depending on the response I get for this chapter...Later! 


	5. Noticed

As I promised...another chapter in the same week...I'm also going to be out most of the weekend so it was either now or I'd have to wait until next week to put up another chapppie and since I promised...well, here it is.Ok, aside from that little tidbit of information, I'd like to thank csi-sam-sanders (yeah, the old Greg's coming back! Party!), Munchken (more on Adri's inner turmoils in this chapter) and CatherineLouise (Adri started slipping last chapter, now it seriously gets noticed...) for reviewing and now...on to chapter 5!

I don't own CSI or anything related to it...I just own Adri...that's all.

* * *

Chapter Five  
Noticed

Greg walked out of the evidence room with a slight pep in his step. He hadn't felt like his old self in a long while...he was opening the door to his car when Sara walked up to him.

"I heard you asked the girl out..." Sara said.

"So?" Greg asnwered. "My personal life didn't matter much to anyone before..."

"Why'd you do it? You know I asked for another chance at us," Sara said, meeting his eyes.

"I know...but I only asked Adri out as friends...I barely know her Sara...I just wanted to get to know her better somewhere that isn't in this building or talking over case files that need to be translated..."

"What about the whole day at the airport?"

"We got to know each other but that wasn't really much of what we talked about...look, I'm not going to tell you what we talked about because it's something I promised to keep between us, just like I asked as well."

"But...?"

"About a second chance at 'us', I'm thinking about it..." Greg said as he began to get into his car. "See you tomorrow Sar..." Greg said as he started the car and drove off. Sara just stood there thinking about what he said.

That night...

Greg pulled into the Lab's parking at seven sharp. Adri had called his cell beforehand and warned him that she'd be late and Greg told her not to worry about it since she had given herslef a half hour window on purpose just in case this would happen. After ending the conversation, Greg kept occupying himself with other things as he tried to think of the whole Sara situation although he still had no idea of what to do. He did want to go out with Sara but he knew where he stood when they talked last night. He was at the same rank as her work, not higher...he still needed to think more to see what he wanted. He looked around and saw that Adri's car was already there and he found it odd since she said she was going to be late. Curiosity overwhelmed him so he approached the car carefully to see her figure in the front seat, throwing her cell phone angrily to the passeger side. He got closer to the driver's side and tapped Adri's window, scaring her. She rolled down her window as she noticed that it was Greg.

"You scared me!" she cried.

"Sorry...it's just that I saw you throw you cell from out here and you seem preocupied about something..." Greg answered as he noticed a bruise under her left eye. "You ok?"

"I swear...I'm going to start charging you for asking me that..." Adri said as she turned off the car. Greg managed a small smile which began to disappear as he noticed a darkening bruise on her right arm.

"This time I really meant it Adri...that eye of yours doesn't look good..." Greg said as he tried to move Adri's face closer to his to get a closer look. She dodged his hand and pulled out a mirror from the center console and took a look.

"Shit..." she whispered. She reached to the compartment on the passenger's side and pulled out a makeup bag.

"You need ice..." Greg said as he opened the car door.

"I'm fine...I just forgot about this..." she said as she pulled out some unknown makeup to Greg and started to cover up the bruise.

"What happened?" Greg asked as she closed the bag and opened the trunk.

"It was an accident. I must've fallen asleep where I was earlier and something landed in my eye. I'm fine."

"Adri, something isn't right...could you just tell me?"

"No," she said as she turned off the car. "Now get out of the way, I need to get out."

"No!" Greg said firmly as he stood his ground. "Something in my gut tells me that there's something wrong and that it's been like this since yesterday..."

"It was just some minor accidents Greg, that's all..."

"But you just said you didn't want to tell me if something was wrong or if everything is all right..."

"Look Greg, it's already seven fifteen and we've got letters to sort through...I wanna be done with this international dude..."

"So do I. But Adri, I'm worried. Something doesn't add up..."

"Greg, I'm fine...trust me, okay_ papi_?" Adri said sweetly. Greg remembered hearing that word before and it came back to him quickly. Aside from meaning father, it was also a pet name used among Latina girls to their boyfriends or guys they were drawn to, at least, that's what he remebered. Greg smirked at the pet name once he remembered it and Adri realized what she said.

"Fine," Greg said as he reached out to try and touch the eye but she moved fast and didn't let him touch her face. _Now something is seriosly wrong in this picture..._Greg thought as he opened the car door for Adri. _Why won't she let check how the bruise is?_, he kept thinking as she closed the window and locked the car.

"I was gonna get my bag out of the car but nevermind...I don't really need it..." Adri said as she reclosed the trunk. "I'll pick it up later if nescesary..."

"You sure?" Greg asked as he raised an eyebrow, he wasn't going to let it go that easily.

"Yes," Adri persisted. "I'm fine Greg. Let's just get to the letters...last night I was thinking about them and I think I'm on to something..."

"All right then," Greg said as he walked ahead of her and opened the door to the Lab for her. She just shook her head at the galant action Greg took since it was and act to get her to talk.

"Thanks," she said as he began to walk beside her. "We should check on Mia and see how the hairs are..."

"Yeah..." Greg said as they made their way to DNA. "Anything Mia?"

"None of the hairs match..." she said rather irritated. "That went nowhere!"

"Actually...you aren't thinking out of the box...did any of them have anything peculiar?" Adri asked. Greg caught her train of thought and grinned. Mia then looked up and gave Adri some print outs.

"Only a few of the hairs came back with seven allels(dunno if I spelled it right)in common with one of the vics...they all came from the same writer, the Italian victim," Mia said. "But that's confusing..."

"But Adri has a point...you're staying in the box and not thinking about any other possibility..."

"Oh really," Mia began, she had been having a bad day and part of her anger, she was taking it out on Greg and Adri. "What do you have in mind Sherlock?"

"Well, they met over an internet service and they began to write by snail mail after a while that they knew each other," Greg began. "He could've asked for a lock of their hair and they sent out flase ones to trick him..." Mia furrowed her brow as she began to think of the possibility.

"Probably...but get to work on the letters...it's all we have now..." Mia said as she sat down.

"Right," Greg said as he began to make his way out. Adri was about to do the same thing but Mia needed to ask her something.

"Adriana," she called out. Said girl turned around, confused.

"What?" she asked in response.

"Be careful...he's a charmer..." Mia warned.

"No worries...he's still a little bummed on the whole stood up thing..." Adriana replied.

"Really?" Mia asked. "He looks fine to me..."

"Well...Sara asked for a second chance and I shouldn't be talking about this...just keep it between us all right?" Adri asked with a helpless sigh.

"Don't worry...I will," Mia said with a smile.

"Thanks," Adri said as she made her way out of DNA and on to the evidence room where they had been working on the night before. She opened the door and stepped in, slightly nervous. "Sorry I took so long, Mia needed to ask me something..."

"It's ok..." Greg said as he looked up. "Better?"

"Greg, how many times do I have to tell you? I'm ok..." Adri said as she sat down on the extra chair he had brought in for her and got to work. Before she did though, she scanned the dates of all the letters she could reach and she noticed something odd. "This guy was sick..."

"What did he do?" Greg asked as he looked up.

"He was two timing these girls...well actually eight timing..."

"What?"

"He was not only writting love letters...he was also some sort of a long distance boyfriend to every single one of them..."

"How can you tell?"

"The same dates on most of the letters he sent out. The postmarking on some of them is on the same day as well..."

"You're kidding..." Greg said as he got up and walked over to her end of the table. Yet again, her hair was up in a bun. He really wanted to see it hang loosely over her shoulers to see how long it really was.

"No..." Adri said as Greg placed his hands on the table, one on either side of her, nearly resting his chin on the top of her head. Adri took in a deep breath that was slightly ragged which surprised Greg. "Don't start," she said for him. "I'm fine, just look," she said as she picked up a letter. "This one he sent out to France on May 25 this year. He also sent out three more that were written a similar manner to the other girls who had replied to his previous letter by that date, meaning the Italian, German and Puerto Rican girls," she finished saying as she showed him all four letters.

"Ok...what does that tell us?"

"It tells us that the guy either had no imagination or he was low on creativity..." Greg laughed at the remark but then Adri cleared her throat to get his attention again. "Anything else?"

"I also noticed that when all of the girls replied at about two to three day intervals, meaning that when he got eight letters, he just sent out identical letters but changed the names..."

"Ok...nothing wierd there..."

"Yet...but look at this notepad Grissom brought here after we left..."

"All I see are bunches of paragraphs in diverse languages."

"Yeah...the languages you don't understand but what I see is a probable premeditated murder...and if I, sorry, we keep reading it, we can nail him for it. But there's one thing..."

"What's that?"

"Apprently there are more pads like these...so it will take us some time to get through these..."

"Well, if you want I can write the translations down as you recite them...that way, we could work faster."

"Hm..." Adri said as she lost herself in her thoughts. Greg took the oportunity to at least smell her hair since he was so close to it. He took a deep breath and could precieve the faint smell of fruits from her hair. He suddenly got an urge to touch her hair and feel it in his hands and as he reached to undo her bun, she moved. "Your suggestion sounds like a plan to me...sit down so we can get right on it." He let out a disapointed sigh and took an empty pad and pen from Adri's hands. "For the Norwegan bits we switch all right?"

"Right...forgot to mention that one..." Greg said while going back to his spot at the table. He looked up and found it hard to keep his eyes off of her.

"Ok...you ready?" Adri asked as she cleared her throat. "I'm going to speak slowly and clearly so don't stress..."

"Perfect," Greg said as he uncapped the pen and got ready.

"_I met eight girls today..._" Adri began as she read off the paper. "_They were so nice to me...they actually liked me for who I am...they never once thought of me as wierd or insecure_," Adri said as she paused.

"Got that," Greg said as he looked up. "Keep going," Greg said as he returned his focus on the paper he was writing on. After an odd silence he looked up and Adri was still not speaking, she wasn't even reading. "Adri!" Greg said loudly as he snapped his fingers in front of her face. She looked up, moving her head around a little frightened. "You ok?"

"I swear Sanders..." she began as she regained composure.

"You can't...well shouldn't anyway..." he said as he gave her a five dollar bill.

"What the...?" she asked as she eyed the bill curiously and sighed. "You know I was being sarcastic..."

"Yeah I know...but this should cover for the rest of the night..."

"No, you keep it. Your cash...but I just freaked when I read the next sentence..._they are so innocent but that won't be true for long..._I guess I just stopped functioning, thinking too much about it..."

"Your choice," Greg said as he placed the bill in his back pocket. "You sure that's everything?" he asked as he got up.

"Yeah...I'm prefectly fine..." Adri said simple.

"I'm gonna go for a while, I need to ask Grissom something..." Greg said as he began to make his way out of the room. "You know, you can trust me with anything...just like I do with you..." Greg said as he left, leaving Adri alone. Adri just sat in her chair, thinking of what he'd said. She wanted to trust him, she wanted to tell him but she was afraid of telling anyone. He'd noticed her already...or at least a problem in her free spirted personality...it was just a fact if she'd let him in or not...she sat there thinking until the smell of coffee interrupted her thoughts. She looked up to meet Greg's eyes and noticed that he was giving her a mug of the brew. "Thought you might like some..." Adri smiled, truly smiled for the first time all day as she took the cup from his hand.

"Thanks," she whispered as she took a sip. He sat down on his chair and they just looked at each other. Brown to brown, trying to read one another. Adri managed a smile as she noticed that Greg was imitating her, and Greg just nodded. "What?"

"That's what I like to see from you..."

"What?" Adri asked as she set the mug down. "I'm trying to uncover a bit more from you by looking into your eyes and you just nodd...care to explain yourself?"

"I like to see you smile...is that wrong?"

"No, in fact it's kind off...wait a minute...why do you like to see me smile?"

"Because I like it..." Greg said simply.

"Oh really?" Adri asked surprised.

"Yep..." he said with a smile as they resumed to look into each other's eyes, Greg not really sure of what he was looking for and Adri just trying to uncover if he was hidding anything from her.

"You two flirting on the job?" asked Warrick as he came in, snapping them out of their trance.

"Nope," Greg said quickly. "We were just giving our eyes a break...we've been reading nonstop these past few days."

"By what? Trying to look into each others souls?" Warrick asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Not really..." Adri said in response. "We were just thinking about something else. Now get out...we've got pads to translate!" Adri said as she got up and began to push Warrick out of the room.

"Look I just want you two to know that you're all we have left now to put this guy in jail...they're even talking pretrial for the weekend," Warrick commented.

"Isn't that a little too soon?" Adri asked.

"Yep...but his laywer is doing everything in her power to give us more headaches...you have to finish those fast..." Warrick said as Adri finally managed to get him out of the room.

* * *

Okay...chapter's done...now that yer done reading...why not review? I'd love to recieve more support. 

Up next...**Caught**


	6. Caught

Okay! Chapter six right here! First off, I would like to thank csi-sam-sanders(I'm glad you like Adri a lot and I agree...Greg can be a sweetheart) and Catherine Louise(I agree...the delving into their hearts begins now, beginning with Greggo...and remember...curiosity killed the cat...(pardon the cliché) and thank you for calling me the queen of long chapters!) Anyway, aside from that, I had fun at the beach and got sunburned on my shoulders like I always do but enough about me...on to the chapter!

I don't own CSI...I just own Adri...

* * *

Chapter 6  
Caught

Greg and Adri spent the two following days working nearly nonstop to finish everything on time. Turns out that the DA compromised and the pretrail was set for a much later date. Fourtanately, the end of the week came and Greg and Adri were relieved to be done with the translations. At seven, Greg dashed into the Crime Lab, more dressed up than usual since he had to take Cath's daughter to the recital since since Cath couldn't do it due to the fact that she was helping Grissom out with paperwork. Carrying tons of folders and papers in his hands, he quickly made his way to Grissom's office. Catherine opened the door for him and he set the pile of papers in a nearby chair.

"Done," was the first thing Greg said.

"Good job," Grissom responded as he got off his desk to check on the papers. "This was your half of the job?"

"Yeah, I did the Norwegan letters and sorted the English ones by date to create the timeline," Greg explained. "I also did the Norwegan paragraphs in the three pads you gave us since Adri already did most of the translations already. Speaking off...is she even here yet?"

"No," Grissom said as he opened the first folder in Greg's pile.

"We have a problem," Nick said as he came in.

"What is it Nick?" Catherine asked.

"There's nobody working DNA...Mia was moved to Day's early this afternoon by Ecklie," Nick said seriously. Grissom's eyes said everything...

"No wonder Brass gave me Adriana's resumé last night...he was suspecting it..." Grissom said as he began to look through his books.

"Why would he give you Adri's resumé?" Greg asked.

"For a spot at the lab...I looked at it this afternoon and I was impressed to say the least...I thought of asking her to join the active CSI roster but I guess she'll make do as a Lab Tech for the time being," Grissom said as he finally found the paper he was looking for. "Says here that if she were to be moved up to work the field, she'd get her own replacement...but it also says that she's comfortable with being a Tech..."

"Let her be a Tech for a while then...move her up to field later..." Catherine suggested.

"Thanks for the idea Catherine..." Grissom said as he sat down and looked through the papers in his desk. Catherine found what he was looking for before he did.

"You never read these..." Catherine said as he looked up to see the small piece of paper, a memo. At that, Adriana burst in, her arms full of papers and some notepads.

"A little help?" she asked, Greg immidiately taking up the offer and placed the contents of her arms in another chair. "Thanks and done at last...I'll pick up my check during the week."

"You're hired," Grissom interrupted.

"What?" Adri asked in surprise.

"You're hired. Brass gave me your resumé yesterday and as of this afternoon I have no DNA tech so that's your job. You start now..." Grissom said.

"I knew he'd pull something like that but I can't start tonight!" Adri cried. "I've got plans!"

"Can't you cancel them?" Grissom asked.

"Nope!" Adri said firmly. "I can start tomorrow or Monday night but I **can't** tonight," Adri said firmly. Greg noticed that she'd come with a bun again..._does that have something to do with her plans? _he thought.

"May I ask what is so important that you can't?" Grissom asked as he looked into her eyes. Adri then made some wierd movements with her hands and Grissom's eyes widened in realization. He then gave her a confused look as to which she nodded. "Go!" he cried. "Go before you're late and I change my mind!" he cried.

"Thank you and see you tomorrow night!" Adri cried as she ran down the hall.

"Care to explain Grissom?" Nick asked.

"Sign language," Grissom answered as he sat down and burried his face in his hands.

"She knows sign laguage?" Catherine asked in surprise. "What did she sign?"

"She can clarify that for you tomorrow...right now I need someone to work DNA and Greg's doing your favor so I need someone else..." Grissom said. "Lemme call Mia and see if she can pull one last double..." Grissom said as he picked up the phone.

"Where's Lindsay and we're taking the bus...my car's is being checked out, it was leaking oil most of the week," Greg said to Catherine.

"She's in the break room and be careful Greg..." Catherine said as he made his way out.

"I will," Greg said.

"For getting her home, just call my mother and she'll call my sister to pick her up," Catherine said as Greg finally left to pick up Lindsay.

"Hey Greg!" said the teenager as he came in. "I can't wait for the ballet show!" she cried. "Mom said that it's better than the dances she used to do. More grace involved..."

"Or so she tells me..." Greg said as he shook his head. He couldn't believe he was doing this...

"Think of it this way," Lindsay said, causing him to meet the girl's eyes. "Hot girls in thight clothes...at least, that's the way Adriana put it for you, I mean, she came by and we talked for a while...she seems like a real nice person."

"She said that?" he asked in surprise.

"Yeah!" Lindsay said with a confused look. "She looked like she was in a real hurry to get somewhere..."

"A date?" Greg asked.

"No!" Lindsay cried. "That's what I asked but she said that it was real important to her and she couldn't let an old lady friend of hers down or something like that..."

"Come on Linds..." Greg said as he took her hand. "Let's go before the show starts, you wouldn't want to miss it..."

"Yeah!" Lindsay said as they made their way outside and took the bus to the theater the ballet show was going to be preformed in. Once they arrived at the theater, they showed their ticket's and were taken to the front row, close to the band and the stage. Lindsay had gotten two programs for them and she was looking through hers when they sat down. "That's wierd..." she said softly as an elder woman sat down next to Greg.

"What do you mean Lindsay?" he asked as he tried to peek over her shoulder.

"Here," she said in response as she handed Greg a program. Greg took a look at the cover page and nearly gouged his eyes out. The page read the name of the ballet as usual but what surprised him was the name of the guest dancer, 'Adriana Carrasquillo.'

"That can't be Adri," Greg said while trying to enter denial.

"You'll just have to wait and see young man..." the lady next to him said with a smile. "I must say...if this preformance goes off without a hitch...I'll be extremely proud of it..."

"You directed this group?" asked Lindsay in surprise.

"Not only that child...I formed it...and I've been dying to get Adriana to preform with us and she gladly accepted once she found out about it," the lady said proudly. "You're welcome to come with me and meet the dancers backstage after the show," the lady said to Lindsay. "You seem very eager to dance."

"That would be great!" Lindsay cried. "Please Greg!"

"Ok..." he said after the teen gave him the puppy dog eyes. "We'd be glad to..." Greg told the woman who smiled at the words.

"All right then," she said as she returned her focus on the stage. "Keep your voices down, the show's about to start..." the lady finished saying as the curtains were pulled back and the show comenced. The whole dinner party scene was brief and the rat fight had Lindsay at the edge of her seat.

"It's cool," she said with a smile. Greg didn't say anything in response and kept watching the ballet. After the battle, the waltzes, marches and minor dances came through. During the Waltz of the Snowflakes, a seemingly familiar face made her appearance as she dashed across the stage. "That was Adriana!" Lindsay cried in surprise.

"Indeed it was," the lady said over the music the band was playing. "Rather nervous...I should go and check how everything is..." the lady said as she got up and made her way backstage. Greg just looked up at the stage confused, just in time to see Adriana dance across stage again before the snowflakes finally made their appearance.

Backstage...

"This is great!" cried one of the male dancers.

"What is?" Adriana asked as she came in from the stage.

"The understudy from the Waltz of the Flowers, the lead role...has gotten a severe case of stage fright. Puked when she heard that she was up after the snowflakes.(A/N: I don't remember if that was the order...so if isn't right, feel free to correct me.) Now that preformance is almost over and you're the only one left that knows the routine," answered another male dancer.

"This is great!" Adriana cried. She hated being under pressure but she had to do this. "Just get me the extra costume and help! I've got only seconds to change!" she cried as they brought her the pink tutu for the part. She had already gotten the Sugarplum Fairy outfit off and put on the other one quickly. "You guys zip me up," Adri said as she finished adjusting the costume on her and began to walk. Two guys came up and they played a quick game of rock, paper, siscors to see who'd zip her up. After the first one won, he started to move the zipper and accidentally undid her bun.

"Your bun!" cried the guy after he realized his mistake. At the same time, a make up artist came by and dabbed some glitter around Adri's neck and shoulders.

"Just take off the bobby pins!" Adri cried. "I'll do a braid to finish the preformance with! I have no time! The song's starting!" she finished saying as the guy removed as many bobby pins as he could. She gracefully came onto the stage and took her position between the porcelain flowers, a nervous smile on her face. _Guess you got your wish Greg..._Adri thought as she quickly scanned the crowd. _You get to see how long my hair is..._she finished thinking as the girls around her began to dance.

Greg(that means it's from his POV, just to clear any probable confusion...)

The very same girl that Lindsay said was Adriana came out this time with a pink tutu and her hair down. I thought all dancers were either supposed to wear buns or braids...I could see her nervously scan the crowd and as I looked at those eyes of hers, there was no more doubt in my mind. That girl was Adri...so this is what she did before she came to the lab...rehearse for the prefromance which I guess is what she signed to Grissom. The girls in the green tutu's danced around her and Adri had her brief moments where she'd dance solo. She looked completely different than from what I've seen her before.

"Adri looks real nice..." Lindsay said.

"Yeah, she does," I responded. I had a hard time finding words to describe her. The elder woman that had left before, came by and obstructed my view of Adri's dancing until she finally sat down next to me.

"The costume fits her better than the understudy," she commented. My mind began to wander as the preformance came to a close and another group of dancers came on stage. After a couple of more dances, the band began to play a familiar tune and I suddenly remebered that Adri was humming that very same melody last night. Adri came on stage with a different outfit this time. A blue tutu that seemed to accentuate her frail figure even more than usual. She had managed to braid her hair and let it hang losely behind her. A guy came up and started to dance with her, complementing her already flawless dance steps. The dance came to a close and not long after, so did the show. The cast slowly made their way onstage, holding hands. A stagehand came by with a bouquet of roses and gave it to Adri who was given a standing ovation. "Bravo!" cried the lady next to us. "Bravo!" Pretty soon the applause was done with and the theater was emptying up. "Come with me," the lady said as she made her way down the asile. Lindsay gave me a quick push and we followed her until we found ourselves backstage. "Where's my star dancer?" she asked.

"I don't think I deserve such a title," Adri said as she stepped out of her dressing room, undoing her braid and finger combing her hair. Her eyes met mine and she just blushed.

"Adri, I belive this young girl could learn from you plenty, she's an aspiring dancer..." the lady said with a smile, signaling Lindsay.

"Don't worry Madame Raquel...I already met her today before the show..." Adri said while noting Lindsay's presence. "And the young man that's with her is a friend..."

"Ah..." said Raquel, amused. "No wonder you were surprised to see her onstage," she finished saying.

"Yeah..." I said sheepishly.

"Well, I'll leave you kids to talk, I need to check on Mariana...I'll see you in two weeks Adriana!" said Raquel as she left.

"You going somewhere?" I asked. She shook her head and signaled us to come into her dressing room.

"I'm just taking a dance break...I'm not going on stage for two weeks so I can gain the five pounds I lost and to work on some of my steps better...yesterday I nearly tripped..." Adri said as she took off her earings.

"You were on a diet?" I asked surprised. With a figure like hers, it wasn't necesarry and the outfit she was wearing made it even more clear... "You don't..."

"I know I don't..." Adri interrupted as she turned to me. "But what else can you do when the costume they tailored for you happens to be one size too small and there's no fabric in town good enough to redo it?" Adri asked.

"Point taken..." I said as I sat down on the couch that there was in the room.

"Need a ride?" Adri asked as she took off the tiara and placed it on the makeup table.

"Sure...lemme call Cath..." I said as I got up.

"I'll do it Greg," Lindsay said as she stood up.

"Just keep it a secret from mommy that you saw me here," Adri said as she began to take her dance shoes off. Lindsay nodded and left the dressing room to talk outside.

"So this is what you do before you went to the lab..." I said after a while.

"Yeah..." Adri said weakly. "You think it's stupid?" Adriana asked.

"Nope. I actually..."

"Let's go Greg!" Lindsay interrupted as she came in. I could see Adri's face fall slightly as she bit her lip and turned away.

"I'll take you home as soon as I change," Adri said as she opened her bag. "Now Greg, out!" she cried. I didn't need to be told twice as I took Lindsay's hand and waited outside of her dressing room. Soon the door opened and Adri came out, looking relieved and makeup less. Under the stage lights, I could see that her eye had healed quite well.

"Your eye looks a lot better..." I said with a small smile.

"Yeah," Adri said with a small smile. "Come on, your grandma is expecting you Linds..."

"Ok..." the teen said as she and I followed Adriana to the parking lot. Adri unlocked the car and put in her stuff in the trunk with my help, which she'd refused but it didn't matter to me anyway. Once we got in and Adri started the car, Lindsay began to point Adri to the right direction. We got there pretty quickly and Lindsay got out of the car on her own, us waiting until she was safely inside her house.

"Getting to my apartment complex is easy..." I began.

"Look Greg, I know we don't know each other much but, would like to stay at my place?" Adri asked. My eyes widened at the question. "It's just that I'm exhausted and my body's aching for some seriuos sleep...it's closer than your aparment complex anyway...I'm just so tired Greg...you have no idea..."

"If you're really that tired...I could drive and you tell me where to go..." I offered.

"No, it's okay..." Adri said with a small smile. "It's real nice of you to worry, but I can drive Greg...it's not that far from here...you can stay in the guest room and there's tons of spare guy's clothes there...my friends send them as gag gifts..." Adri said as she started the car and began to drive to her house.

"Why would you say that?" I asked. "I thought you'd have them left by an ex or something..."

"I'm not the type of person to have one night stands and keep the guy's clothes..." Adri said firmly.

"I didn't mean it that way Dri..." I said, trying to defend myself. "I just..."

"You just thought automatically that just because I'm so sweet that I'd have guys swooning over me everywhere and that's not how it's been for me!" she cried angrily. I was hurt by her remark but the tears in her eyes showed me that she was hurt more by what I had said. I reached out to comfort her but she didn't even let me touch her. There's got to be something going on in her head that tells her to pull back just as much as she gets close to people. At first she seemed to be such a strong person but now she's panicking over every little thing...doesn't she trust me already? "Just be quiet Greg...I really need to think right now and I apologize if the comment hurt you in anyway..." Adri said as she kept driving silently. After about ten more minutes, she pulled over at her house and we saw that the door was wide open...

* * *

The ever cruel cliffy has finally made it's appearance! Okay...enough joking around. I'd just like to comment that I'm surprised at the amount of hits this has gotten and the reviews barely reflect it...but moving on, I love to recieve positive reinforcement so I'd appreciate hearing from more of you...Ok...I'm done...until next chappie...which depending on my speed, itshould be up this weekend... 

Up next: **Broken In**


	7. Broken In

Chapter seven up a little earlier than I thought...anyway, this chappie's from Greggo's point of view and you get to find out more of Adri's surprises and how things become a little more difficult yet easier for them...I'll leave it at that...don't want to spoil anything else for the time being. Before I proceed to the chapter I want to thank csi-sam-sanders(I know the cliffy was at a bad time but here's what happens afterwards...), Kate K(Yeah...she maybe perfect but remember...things aren't going to be to good for her now since her house was broken into...) and Shelbers(I decided to put up this chapter for ya so you wouldn't leave for your vacation with the evil cliffy in mind...hope you get to read it...enjoy!) for reviewing.

Okay...I don't own CSI...just Adri...

* * *

Chapter 7  
Broken In  
Greg

"Shit!" Adri cried angrily as she threw the car keyes to the floor.

"You do lock the door after you leave..right?" I asked.

"Yes!" Adri cried angrily. "Do you think I'm stupid?" she spat out. Her features softened as a tear streamed down her cheek. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean it the way it came out..." she said as she breathed in deeply. She unbuckled her seatbelt and got out in a flash.

"Adri!" I called out. "You shouldn't be doing this!"

"This is my house Greg! If it were your apartment...what would you do?" Adri asked. I couldn't let her go in alone...I got out of the car and made my way next to her. Everything was trashed or torn to bits. "Oh God..." she whispered. "Colin!" she cried out as she made her way to the middle of the living room. I picked up my cell phone and dialed Brass's number.

"Brass," he said as he picked up the phone.

"It's Greg," I said as I watched Adri disappear into the hallway. "I've got a break in."

"Where?" Brass asked.

"Adri's house...do you need the address?" I said as Adri came back with a small Black Labrador Retriever pup following her footsteps.

"Wait, Adri's house? What are you doing there?"

"Look, that's not the important thing...send cops here now..."

"Tell Adri not go in..."

"She already did..."

"What is she? Dumb?"

"Brass, she just went in to get her dog..." I said as Adri walked past me, tears falling from her eyes. "She's just stepped outside..."

"Did she touch anything?" Brass asked as I turned to see Adri sit down on the front steps.

"Nope," I said, covering for her. "She just went in, called for her dog, found him and stepped out."

"All right. I'll be right there and don't worry about calling Grissom," Brass said. "I'll do it," he finished saying as he hung up. I walked over to Adri and sat down next to her. I took a deep breath and was about to speak up...

"Save it," she said as the puppy hopped into her lap and fell asleep. "I'm better...but not okay...is that good enough for you?"

"Yeah..." I said as I looked at her closely. "I think we should wait for Brass...but if you're really that tired, you could use me as a pillow," I offered.

"No," Adri said quickly. She wasn't even looking at me when she talked. Her focus was mainly on the puppy on her lap or the landscaping of the front yard from across the street. A small breeze went by and Adri was crying silently. "I don't want to talk about it...I just want to go home..."

"But isn't this your house?" I asked. She looked at me for the first time in a while and smiled slightly.

"You should know me by now...I'm full of surprises..." Adri said as suddenly, two squad cars and Grissom's Tahoe made their appearance. I smiled slightly but hers dimmed at the swarm of officers that entered her house to clear it for the team.

"You ok?" Grissom asked as he made his way over to us. He then noticed her dog and kneeled down. "Adri?" he called out, causing her to look up. "Can I take a look at your dog for a moment? He's our only eyewitness..."

"He's still a pup...he's barely four months old..." Adri corrected him as she rubbed the dog's belly. "Colin...mommy needs you to wake up..." she said sweetly. The puppy sat up on her lap and growled at the sight of all the people crowding his owner, with the exception of me since he licked my face when he saw me before he noticed the others. "Colin, they are my coworkers...they won't hurt you..." Adri said in the same tone as before as she picked up the dog and gave it to Grissom. "Be careful with him..."

"I will," Grissom said as he stood up. "He'll be back in your possesion shortly..." he said as he walked over to another area and opened his kit.

"I didn't see the dog last time I was here..." I said as I turned to her. The licking I didn't mind though...I'm just curious as to why he did it...but I'll ask Adri that later.

"He was asleep in my room..." Adri said as she turned her focus to somewhere else. "Besides, you weren't here long enough..."

"Adri...everything's a mess..." Brass said as he came out of her house and talked to us. "Do you need a place to stay?" he asked. Adri looked up with a smirk and shook her head. "Oh right...just be careful, all right?"

"I will be..." Adri began. "Does this mean I can go now?" she asked.

"I don't see why not...your stories check out without a problem..." Brass said as he straightened up a little. "I'm just going to talk to your neighbors and let Grissom and the others process the scene since there's no DB."

"This belongs to you," Grissom said as he held out her dog in front of him. Adri took him and he licked her face in happiness. "What role did you play?" he asked, curious about the ballet story.

"Sugarplum Fairy," Adri responded. "I also had to do the lead in the Waltz of the flowers since the understudy got sick..."

"Hm...I guess that's where you bumped into Greg?" asked Catherine as she joined us.

"Yeah...just don't tell Nick, Warrick or Sara..." Adri said as she got up.

"Why not?" I asked.

"They didn't know that Greg was at a ballet show...so why should they know I was there too?" Adri said as Grissom and Catherine got the point.

"All right," Catherine said. "I won't say anything..."

"Me either..." Grissom said as he went into her house.

"Do you need a place to stay?" Catherine asked.

"No," Adri said with a smile. "I've got that covered..."

"All right," Catherine said. "Just be careful if you're staying with Greg."

"No worries," Adri said as I got up. "I can handle it..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked as Catherine went into Adri's house and she made her way to her car. I got into the passenger's side and noticed that Adri was still tense. "Want to talk about it?"

"What's there to talk about? Adri snapped. "My house was broken into, everything inside of it was trashed and thank goodness my dog came out unscathed. You found out my secret life as a dancer and I helped nab the International Killer in a week with your help."

"Adri, there's something you're not telling me..." I began.

"So?" Adri said as she sped up a little. She kept driving, biting her lip and tears in her eyes. I decided to keep quiet since whatever I said wouldn't help her at all...or so she thinks anyway...she pulled over in front of this big, two story house...wait no, a mansion...my eyes widened at the sight of the place and realized that this must've been a present from her father and something kept her from using it. "It was under construction for a while...they finished last week..." Adri explained as she got her pup out of the backseat and opened the front door. I followed and my eyes widened at the size of the place...this is too big for one person. She closed the door and locked it after I came in and she set Colin down. He trotted off to somewhere else, leaving Adri and me alone. "Come with me and I'll show you where you'll be staying tonight..." she said as she began to go upstairs.

"Where did Colin go?" I asked as I caught up to her.

"He's looking for his pet bed..." Adri said softly. "He has one in the kitchen and one up in my room," she finished explaining.

"I'm sorry about your pictures..."

"It's okay...I have copies in the basement...with all the construction, I haven't done much else..."

"I could help you tomorrow..."

"I thought you'd be asking me to take you back to your place first thing."

"About that," I began.

"You can tell me tomorrow okay?" Adri said as she opened a door from one of the many we had passed by in the hallway. "You'll be staying here..." she said softly. "There's a bathroom in here too, it's kind of a second master bedroom," Adri explained. "If you need anything, just holla..." Adri said softly, waiting for me to say something. I reached out to embrace her but she took a step back.

"Why won't you let anyone touch you?" I finally asked. She seemed surprised that I asked.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"At the airport, when I got close to you, you moved away. In the car earlier, you wouldn't let me comfort you and right now, you won't let me show you that I care..." I said, getting irritated.

"Look Greg, it's a long story..." she explained.

"I have the time," I said simply.

"But right now, I don't want to share it..." Adri said as she turned to leave. I grabbed her arm and turned her to face me. The emotion in her eyes was clear. She was afraid...but it made no sense...she was afraid of me? Her breathing was slightly frenzied as she looked around, scared. I hadn't seen her act like this all week..."Just leave me alone...please..." she said weakly. I let go of her and she sighed deeply in relief although fresh tears had formed in her eyes.

"Fine..." I whispered. "Just know that I'm here to listen if you need it..."

"Thanks for the tip..." Adri said as she made her way down the hall and disappeared into another room. The door wasn't fully closed so I could hear her sobs from her room. It worried me plenty that she pulled away from normal signs of affection and the she was afraid of me. I hadn't done anything wrong this week...all I've done is ask her if she's all right when she seemed lost in another world. Something about her changes everytime I try to talk about relationships and such...what did I trigger everytime I mentioned something related to it? I just left it in the back of my mind to deal with later. I walked into the room Adri had allowed me to stay in and I couldn't believe the size of the place...my cell rang and I quickly picked it up.

"Sanders."

"Greg, it's Grissom."

"Hey boss," I began. "What's up?"

"I would like it if you somehow made up an excuse to say with Adri for a while longer..." Grissom began. That wasn't like him...

"Something wrong?" I asked, fearing the answer.

"There was a threat to Adri written with what appears to be red paint on one of her walls," Grissom began. "Since you know her better than any of us, I believe it'd be better if someone she knew was near her at all times..."

"I don't know Griss..." I began. I'm worried about where our friendship would lead from our last arguement...

"Greg, it'd be better this way than having cops behind her everywhere she goes..."

"I actually did think about it earlier...but I'll do it just so they don't have Brass or any of his men following her," I said as I looked at the closed door of the guest room I was in.

"Good," Grissom said. "Good night," he said as he hung up. I was basically pushed to stay with Adri although I did want to anyway to make sure that she'd be all right. I stepped out of the room briefly and I could still hear sobs coming from another room in the house. Adri was crying and she refueses to let me in on whatever her problem is...things were going to be rather tense between us if I didn't get to the bottom of what bothers her or makes her snap at me soon...

The next morning  
Greg

I woke up at around ten and got up hesitantly. My door opened, revealing a clamer Adri. Her hair was wet and down, revealing it's length to me yet again. Her eyes were clean of tears and she had half a smile decorating her lips. She was wearing yellow stripped pj bottoms with a blue and pink polka dot pattern top.

"You want anything?" she asked. "I just woke up and showered."

"What are you planning on making?" I asked.

"A little something my dad used to cook for me. Would you like to try it?"

"Sure, why not? As long as it's not instant pancakes or waffels...it's fine with me..." Adri laughed lightly at my comment and shook her head.

"You'll like it..." she said with a smile and left. She seemed to change personalities quickly...but it couldn't be that she has some sort of mental unstableness because if she did, she wouldn't have been hired by Grissom. It must be the talk of relationships that triggers it...but what do I trigger when I say it? Failiures? Rejections? Abuse? The last one certainly explains the black eye and the bruise in her arm but why would someone hurt her like that? I showered and dressed in some of the extra clothes she had and couldn't believe that they fit me perfectly. I slowly made my way downstairs and found the kitchen due to the scent of Adri's cooking. I noticed that Colin was in his pet bed, sound asleep. "How'd you sleep?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"Incredible...that bed must be the most comfortable one I've ever slept on...even better than mine..." I responded, causing her to smile. "Look, I'm really sorry about last night. I said some things that were out of line and I tried to cross a line that you'd set on your own for some reason or another. I just want you to know that I'm here to listen and if you ever need my help with anything, I'll be glad to do so..." I glanced at her and she turned away but I was able to see the color her cheeks had begun to take and the big smile that was forming in her lips.

"Thanks Greg...that's real sweet of you..." Adri said as she set a plate before me. "It's an inside out sandwich. The egg's scrambeled and on top instead of inside," she explained as she handed me a fork and a knife. "Want some bacon?" she asked as she headed over to the stove to cook her own breakfast.

"I don't want to force you to do any extra work..." I began.

"You dunce!" she cried. "I'm going to make myself some and I just asked so I can put in a few extra pieces if you wanted."

"Oh..." I said, slightly embarrassed. "Then, in that case, sure..."

"All right then," Adri said as she pulled out another frying pan and I took a bite out of my breakfast. It wasn't that bad...it was really good. "What would you like to drink?"

"Milk would be fine," I said in between mouthfulls. Adri placed a glass with said drink before me and I nearly finished it in one swallow. She then sat across from me and began to eat her food, passing me the bacon that was in another plate. "You're a good cook," I complimented with a smile.

"Thanks," she said after swallowing. "So, you want me to drive you back to your place now?" she asked. "Or do you want the grand tour before you leave?"

"Actually..." I began. "Grissom called last night...he said that there was a threat written on one of the walls in your place and he wants you stay with someone..."

"And you want to be that person?" she said in a tone I couldn't identify.

"Look, I find it better than Nick, Warrick, Sara or Cath...we've gotten to know each other over the past week...and this house is just too big for you alone so...think about it..."

"I wouldn't want to go against Grissom's orders and you do have a point...this house is too big for me to stay solo at a time like this..."

"So..."

"You can stay Greg...just be careful with what you say or try to do..." she whispered. I couldn't keep my eyes off her for that moment.

"No prob," I said with reasurance.

"We'll swing by your place and pick up some of your stuff whenever you feel like it..." Adri said as she finished her breakfast.

"I'll clean up..." I said as I began to pick up the dirty dishes. She shook her head and got up to help. "No, I'll do it...I want to help..."

"Fine, you win," Adri said simply. She left the kitchen and I could hear her fading footsteps as she made her way upstairs. I loaded the dishes into the dishwasher and made my way to the guest room I was satying in. I looked around and smiled at the sight of how big the place was. I was glad that she agreed to my stay in here...the place really is too big for her...

* * *

Okay...there it is...Chapter seven...hope you liked...next one should be up by next week...depending on my mood and the response I get...(I start school next week...I can't believe it...I'm a senior...) Until next chappie readers! 

Up next, **Letting Go, Letting In**


	8. Letting In, Letting Go

Hey people! Chapter 8 is here! I decided to put this up since school starts for me tomorrow and due to the horrible schedule they gave me...I might not be able to update as often as I'd like to. Anyway...before you read, I'd like to thank Shelbers(I agree with what you said...Adri's just starting to peel away and show Greg the real her...and thank you for the compliment!), csi-sam-sanders(Yeah...she's a real mystery but she finally comes clean and tells Greg why she's pulled away from him all this time...and there's still more to expect from Adri...just wait...and I'm glad you still love it...) and CatherineLouise(I hope you like what you read in this chapter...) for reviewing. Now, on to the chappie!

I don't won CSI, just Adri and the plot that's starting up...

* * *

Chapter 8  
Letting In, Letting Go  
Greg

That night Adri began her job at the lab with a smile on her face and trying to avoid contact with me as much as possible. Her house was being cleaned up and everything was being sorted into rooms before Nick and Sara processed the entire scene. I tried to talk to Adri but I never got the chance to get close, she'd get involved in so many things that I just knew that its was an act...

A week after the break in, I was inside the game room in Adri's house, playing video games without stopping for a break. I mean, with all these arcade games and these systems in your disposal...I didn't want them in the slightest. I heard the door to the room open and Adri spoke up.

"Grissom called," Adri began. "Sara and Nick want me to meet them at the house to ID pictures and to tell them if anyone is in Vegas..."

"What about your neighbors?" I asked as I turned around.

"Cleared...let's go..." she said as she made her way out. I followed her out of the house and into her car. The drive to her other house was relatively silent, like that night with music being the only noise. She then pulled over at her house, Nick and Sara arriving at the same time that we did. We got out of the car and just as we were making our way up the steps, shots came at us out of nowhere. I quickly ducked and pulled Adri down with me and placing her back to the car while I was in front of her. Her hair was all in her face and I could hear her frenzied breaths. I reached out to move the hairs that covered her eyes and she tensed up as soon as she felt my hand in her face. "Please don't Greg..." she whispered. That was it...I had to talk to her about what I knew...or at least, what I think I know...

"Adri...I can tell you're hurt and that you've been hurt before...but I don't want any of that...the night after the break in, what I heard, that's what I want but I don't want you to be alone when you cry...no matter how others have hurt you, I promise that I won't...you haven't let anybody else in ever since the abuse...I can see it from the way you've pushed me away. This isn't about romance...this is about the fact that you don't want anyone be there for you because you're afraid...and this is because all week I've had a hard time sleeping, thinking about what causes you to act like this," I said to her, as Brass and a few patrol cars arrived. The shots seemed never ending at this rate. How many rounds did the person have? "I managed to sleep after I figured it out but there's one thing that I want you know Adri...right now I want you to let me in. I want to be there for you and I can't if you don't let me...and it's not because you don't want to...I mean, why else would you let me stay in your place without so much as an argument? Please," I whispered. At this rate, I was begging for her to let me help. I hadn't seen her like this...she had fallen to pieces in just one week.

"You know...when you put your mind into it..." Adri said as she looked at me in the eyes. "You're smarter than you think," she said with a weak smile. "I've always felt like I if I were a problem to everyone with the exception of my father...and you here, telling me that you want to be there and that you want to listen to everything...it's just something different...I don't remeber the last time someone told me that they wanted to hear it..." she whispered as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "Could you do me a favor? I mean, to you it may not seem to be like something big but..."

"Just say it," I whispered.

"Can I get a hug?" she asked weakly. I laughed lightly as my arms made their way around her, pulling her into an embrace. She shakily completed as she finally let it all go. I could hear her weak sobs as she cried onto my shoulder, the shots finally coming to a stop and the cops stormed the place to find the guy. Adri clinged to me like a lifeline, crying and I slightly tightened my hold on her. Pretty soon, her sobs subsided and she let go of me slightly. "Thank you..." she whispered.

"It's a start..." I said with a small smile.

"Indeed," she said as she wiped away the tears that remained in her eyes. "Come on...I want to get this over with..." she whispered as she got up and the cops walked out.

"Empty," Brass said while shaking his head. "I was so sure that we had him..."

"How do you know it's a guy?" I asked. Adri seemed surprised at something but said nothing.

"We'll get him..." Adri said with a smirk. Okay, now I **know **there's something missing here. Adri began to walk up to the house and I followed, not sure of what we might see. Once inside, we saw everything sorted out into piles and the pictures were all in one area. "Can I get a pair of gloves Nick?" Adri asked as he handed her one. Adri slipped them on as Sara gave me a pair.

"We can talk after this is over with," I said without letting her have a say. I'd avoided her most of the week to keep on thinking since I was too busy concerned about Adri as well.

"Most of the pictures were strewn on the floor with the exception of this one which seems to be taped together and left perfectly intact," Nick explained as he gave her the only picture frame that survived. Adri looked at the frame and fury was present all over her facial features. I looked over her shoulder and saw that she was smiling in the picture along with a black haired, green eyed guy that had his arms around her. It was evident that the picture had been torn into countless of tiny pieces and that whoever had taped this, was very dedicated.

"You photographed this?" she asked, anger evident in her voice.

"Yeah...why?" Nick asked.

"Asshole!" she cried as she threw the frame to the wall, causing it to break.

"Hey hey hey!" Nick cried as he went to pick up the pieces. "Keep your anger outside...this is a crime scene!"

"Keep it outside!" Adri cried. I grabbed her arm gently and made my way to the back yard.

"Don't come back until you can control your anger!" Nick cried as he kept picking up the pieces. We stepped outside and I let her go, hearing her scream in anger.

"He wants me to control my anger?" Adri cried, pacing. "I hate that guy! He means nothing to me and he comes and plants the picture like if we were still dating! I hate him! I hate him!" Adri cired, her voice getting louder. "I mean, he three timed me and then denies ever meeting those girls when they happened to be my best friends back then! Of course, we're still friends now but he doesn't do anything to them like he does to me...no...he keeps accusing me as the problem of it all! One thing I'm very happy of is that my friends gave him something that I absolutely refused. I never wanted to give it up to him and I'm glad I didn't! He's an ass! He doesn't deserve to live! He doesn't deserve me!" she cried as she dropped to her knees. I imidiately got up and walked over to her just in time to hear her whisper, "Nobody does..."

"Of course they do," I said as I knelt down next to her. "People deserve you Adri, you're a great person, just because one person has told you otherwise, doesn't mean that you should only believe him..." I said as I slowly wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into another embrace. "Adri, you're just angry and I understand that, but you shouldn't tell yourself such things...everyone at the lab cares...why do you think Grissom's got most of the night shift on it? The whole reason I'm not on the case is because I know you better than everyone else." I said softly.

"Greg?" she asked weakly.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for your kind words but um...you're nearly sitting on me..."

"Oh! Sorry," I said as I found a spot next to her. "Feeling better? Again?"

"Yeah...just a little..."

"So...you're still a virgin?"

"Yeah...surprised?"

"A little..."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, I was expecting it in a way but the way you yelled it out for nearly the entire neighborhood and the way you said it...it was a little complicated for me to get..."

"Mia told me you lost yours when you were 22..."

"She did?"

"Yeah...I was surprised slightly, actually...I thought you'd lost it sooner..."

"Nah..."

"I seriously don't know how you do it..." she whispered.

"What?" I asked as I looked at her.

"I'm finally calm now...last time I was that angry...it took me three bags of miniature Milky Ways, two big pints of ice cream and half a dozen commedies to get rid of it," she said softly, thinking.

"You don't even show the pounds you gain..."

"I get them off by dancing...it's my other escape..."

"Want to go back inside?" I asked.

"Yeah...I can do this now..." Adri said as she got up. I got up and followed her in, glad that I was making a difference in her outlook on life. Once inside, Nick was holding up the picture and looking at it carefully.

"You seem different in this picture..." Nick began. "You look..."

"Happy?" Adri said for him. Nick nodded slightly as she shook her head. "Look Nick...I get the impression that he did this but I have one question, any prints?"

"None...most of them are yours but this is your house and there's too much important stuff here that you wouldn't break..."

"And she wasn't here all day," Brass said as he came in. "The neighbor's daughters finally spoke up. They said that Adri was out all day for the exception of meal times, when she came in and left in about half an hour. They also remember a guy coming in on a bycicle, wearing a black hoodie and jeans, ten minutes after Adri left for the lab and her gig. They said he left about three hours later, on a hurry and about half an hour later, Adri pulled over and ran in."

"That rules you out by a long shot..." I said as I looked around. "This took dedication and hate..."

"Indeed," Grissom said as he came in.

"Back to what I asked Nick...no prints?" Adri asked.

"None..." Nick responded.

"He knows! Crap! He knows!" Adri cried, frustrated.

"He knows what?" Grissom asked, looking out from the kitchen doorway.

"That I work at the lab! That's the only reason he'd be like that...I had the feeling I was being watched all last week. I just thought that it was the pressure getting to me..." Adri said softly.

"The writing on the wall was done with blood," Grissom said as he tried to change the subject. "Mia matched the sample to a DB found last week, an Enrique Maldonado," he continued, Adri emitting a groan at the sound of the name. "Know him?"

"Yeah!" Adri cried. "His understudy took his part since he went missing...never thought he'd be dead...I just thought that he'd fallen sick since he'd been fighting a cold recently."

"We're dealing with a stalker then..." Sara said as she joined the crowd.

"Angry ex..." Nick said as he showed the picture to Grissom. "This is our main suspect," Nick said, referring to the guy.

"Let's go find him..." Grissom said with a smirk. "...he seems to be like a very nice person indeed." he finished saying. Adri laughed lightly and turned around.

"Good luck finding him..." Adri said as she began to make her way out.

"Why does she say that?" Sara asked.

"Guy's been escaping authoritires for a year..." Brass explained. "He's hard to catch."

"We'll get him...for Adri's sake..." I said as I made my way to meet Adri so we could leave.

"Greg!" Sara called out. "We need to talk." I turned around as I remembered that we did need to. I did tell her I had made up my mind already.

"Greg!" Adri cried as she opened her car door. "You coming?" she asked.

"I'm on my way," I said to her. "Gimme a moment..."

"No prob..." she said as she started the car and music blasted from it. "All right!" she cried happily as she took the front seat and closed the door, listening to the song and singing along.

"What's her deal?" asked Sara.

"My bet, song she likes...but that's not what we're supposed to be talking about," I began.

"Right," Sara said as she looked to the ground. "Did you think about it?"

"Yeah...I did..." I answered as I looked over my shoulder to check on Adri. She was still singing along, ejoying the music. I turned to Sara and took a deep breath. "I liked you Sara I won't deny that..."

"But..."

"But after you stood me up, I realized that it was better off we didn't date. I mean, deep down, I can tell that you kinda like me but you're still interested in Grissom and if you're still thinking about him...it's not worth it..."

"Greg, I..."

"Look Sara, I made up my mind...I like being your friend better," I said as I turned around to leave.

"You like her?" she asked, referring to Adri.

"Not sure..." I said simply. "Hard to tell..."

"See ya..." Sara said.

"Yeah...I'll see ya tonight at work..." I said as I walked over to the car. I opened the door to hear some odd music and someone singing along pretty loudly. Adri had her eyes closed and was enjoying the music. If my mind didn't fail me, she was rapping in Spanish.

"_Salud y vida_," Adri sang along with a excellent voice. She then opened her eyes and blushed. "Ready to go?" she asked as she buckled up.

"That was interesting..." I said as I followed suit.

"Daddy Yankee," Adri explained as she put the car in reverse and backed away from her old house. "Puerto Rican reggaeton artist," she finished saying as the song came to an end. "I met him once...he's awesome and a real sweetheart."

"Perk?"

"Slightly..." Adri said with a small smile. "Nick was right though...even if it was a little..."

"Why do you say that?" I asked as I stopped looking out the window and focused on her.

"I was really happy with that guy for a while...he was everything I could've asked for..."

"And then some?"

"Nope...he never did anything outstandish for me nor anythihng, he was great but he wasn't prefect that's why I didn't say 'and then some.' He was just there...but we were happy and his parents said that I was the best he'd ever had. I mean, that picture was taken the very same day he told me that he loved me for the first time...I thought that it was finally the real deal you know, the type of love little girls dream about. It didn't last though...a few months later, he was asking to take our relationship to the bed and I refused..."

"He got violent then?"

"Nope...he went out with my friends once or twice and the peer pressure got to them...but it never got to me...I guess it helped having a psychiatrist mother. Anyway, pretty soon after he started to juggle three girlfriends at once, then he turned violent on me, just me. He would just vent by hitting me, initially, like every abused girl, I thought it was something I did...I never told anyone but now when I think about it, mom must've known because she told me to listen and when I did, I heard him saying that it wasn't his fault that he was broke or that his brother died or whatever. For that, I came to realize that it really wasn't my fault. He was just using me...after a while, I began to ponder if that was what our relationship had been, me as an object of some sort. At one point, he got severly touchy feely with me and I began to pull away from him. I then ended it and tried to date other guys and had so many second thoughts, pulled away so much for fear, still will for a while...I hope...and I withdrew myself from the dating world...and what I didn't want as a little girl will probably happen after all of it..."

"What would that be?"

"Me dying alone...or never find out what the real thing felt like or never discovering the diference from sex to making love as my dad put it. I mean, I'm scared of men...well, except for Dad, Grissom and Brass...oh and now you...I can't believe I just told you all of that...guess with all this commotion I just needed to let it out...glad you heard me out though..."

"You'll find it sometime... and I'm more than happy to hear you out...I mean, I should return the favor..."

"And it never hurt to loose faith..."

"Excatly," I said as I cautiously placed a hand on her shoulder. "I still haven't found my match but I know she's out there and thanks to your advice, I'm going to keep faith...she's out there...I just need to find her..."

"Or let her find you..." Adri said as she pulled over at her house.

"That too," I said smiling.

"It's hot out...I wanna take a swim...care to join me?" Adri said as she got out of the car without waiting for an answer. I got out as quickly as possible, I closed the door behind me and I heard the car lock. I looked around to see Adri at the front balcony with a towel wrapped around her body. "Didn't think twice about it did you?" she said with a smirk.

"Maybe," I said somewhat embarrased.

"Well, hurry up!" she said, flashing a full smile.

"You've let go?" I asked, shielding my eyes slightly from the sun.

"Yeah...I'm better than ever...I guess I've finally startedto let go...I mean, I was over the guy already I just...never let go of the pain...never shared my pain with anyone to feel better..."

"Well, you're smiling better," I commented. She laughed at the comment and emptied out a glass of water on me.

"That's for thinking you'd get away with it..."

"And for trying?"

"Hm...let's see...I'll think about it...how's that?"

"You still owe me that 'date'..."

"Hm...I guess you're right...but don't pressure it all right? I still need some time for myself before going out with a guy...let alone you...anyways, see you in the water!" Adri cried as she walked into the house.

"Dri!" I cried. "What do you mean by that?" I yelled out. After no response, I went inside to change.

* * *

And thus the teasing begins...and there's more in store...Okay...thanx for reading and if you could, please review! 

Up next: **Battle of the Techies**


	9. Battle of the Techies

Hey people! Michelaski here with chapter 9 of Hidden Cry in tow. This chapter is a little wierd I believe...but that's really up to you guys. Anyway, before proceeding to the chappie...I would like to thank saraandgreg4ever (the original idea came from another CSI Greg/OC fic I was thinking off in which the main character is a latina, more specifically a Puerto Rican, just like Adri here. I started out with a ton of what if's and thus, Hidden Cry was born. The reason I decided to make Adri a Boricua(same thing as Puerto Rican) was that I'm one myself and sometimes I stick with what I know and besides there aren't any Greg/OC fics involving latinas...well...at least, that's what I've seen anyway. And for the compliments a big thank you!), CatherineLouise (yeah...that was an intense chapter...wonder how this one looks for you...) and csi-sam-sanders (Yeah! Adri did let go...but there's more in store...I'm not going to give anything else away...) for reviewing.

Same disclaimer as always...

* * *

Chapter 9  
Battle of the Techies  
Adriana

I just loved toying with Greg's head. I mean, the look on his face when he got confused, priceless. Those eyes of his, looking at me, nearly begging for an answer adorable in every way...but I shouldn't bother telling him that...it'd just inflate his ego which is already pretty big on its own. Regardless of that, he's been so sweet by listening to me...I mean, for most of my life, I just listen and barely get a say and yet, with Greg, it's balanced and he changes subject when he notices the change in my tone...others keep pressuring me to talk. Although I still have my doubts about Greg's concern...

"Hey Dri!" Greg said as he came out into the backyard. He'd gotten the habit of occasionally calling me that and I don't mind...as long as he doesn't start slipping in pet names every now and then...I still wonder what he thought when I called him _papi_...I mean, that's a pet name Spanish speaking girls occasionally use. He was wearing a Tshirt and his swimming turnks.

"Take it off man!" I cried from the chair I was sitting in.

"You too!" he cried. At that, I remembered that I was still using the towel.

"Fine!" I cried as I got up. "I'll go first...just because you're going to argue with me about it," I said as I took off the towel and threw it to the chair. Greg's eyes widened as he quickly came over, whistling and hooting. I was wearing a decent two piece, my midriff exposed more than usual.

"Damn...sexy..." he said softly as he stood before me. He kept his eyes in my abdomen, looking for something. "Can I just check for something on your stomach?" he asked as he looked into my eyes.

"I got no bruises if that's what you're worried about..." I said softly, smiling at his thoughtfulness.

"It's not that..." he began. I gave him a decent yet killing look and he got the point. "Okay...maybe that was one reason but I also wanted to..."

"I get it," I interjected. "The glass went through here," I said as I grabbed his wrist and placed his hand on the left side of my stomach. "The cut was about this long," I said as I moved his hand downward slightly, his touch gentler than what I had thought I'd cause with my leading his hand. "Then at the back, it was slightly smaller," I said as I turned around and let go of his hand.

"Yeah..." Greg said softly as his hand landed on the faint scar on my back. "You can barely see it..." he whispered as he traced the scar. I felt chills run through me at the touch, which I don't think he noticed. "There are some on your shoulders too..." he said as he moved my hair over to one side and took a closer look. "But these look recent...did he do these?" he asked as he turned me around, his hands on my shoulders.

"Yeah...last week..." I said softly. "I didn't tell anyone and you should understand why..."

"I do..." he said as he pulled me into another embrace. "Next time, please tell me..." he whispered.

"No problem..." I said in response.

"I think I should return the favor," he said as he pulled away. "You allowed me to see your scars and I believe it would be fair for you to see mine," he finished saying as he turned around and took off his shirt. There were traces of large and small cuts on most of it. I thought of reaching out to touch them but thought against it. "Go ahead..." he said, interrupting my thoughts.

"You broke the glass when you flew..." I said as I traced some of the faintscars.

"How'd you know?"

"They tell the story..." I said softly. "There seem to be more on your left side...you were sideways when it happened..."(A/N: they showed "Playing with Fire" on Spike last Friday...I still wonder if I've got the right side...)

"Seriously, I think you'd do better as a CSI than a techie..." Greg said while turning around, enabling me to see that he was fit, strong and basically, someone very attractive...Crap! I can't think that, not now...

"I'll keep that in mind..." I said with a smile and a blush, I was nearly caught...

"So...who's going in first?" Greg asked. Opportunity...

"That would be you Greg!" I said as I mustered up the strength to push him in. I would have succeded if weren't for the fact that he grabbed my wrist and took me in with him. We surfaced, his hand still holding my wrist. He laughed victoriously and held our hands up.

"Haha! Beat you to it!" he said as he finally let go.

"Hey at least I tried...you didn't..." I said as I swam over to the shallow end, enjoying the feeling of being in the water. I surfaced at the other end of the pool to see Greg's form underwater, catching up. He surfaced, a grin on his face.

"Blue looks good on you," he commented, complimenting the suit I was wearing.

"Yeah and if weren't for the fact that I think you're adorable, I would've inflicted bodily harm already..." I said as I got out of the water and headed for the diving board. I couldn't believe I said that...

"You think I'm adorable?" he asked from the shallow end after the shock of my words.

"That's not the only thing I've thought about you," I said as I jumped and excecuted an excellent dive. When I surfaced, Greg was right in front of me, barring my path. "What?"

"Oh nothing..." he said as he picked me up and pulled me out of the water.

"Put me down!" I cried, slightly angry and worried yet at the same time, I felt like laughing. I don't get it...is this what it's supposed to feel like?

"Hey! You dumped a glass of water on me when I complimented you so I should do something in return after what you said..." he said as he lifted me over his head without a problem.

"But this is different!" I cried.

"How so?" he asked.

"I'm ticklish at the waist!"

"Oh really?" he asked slyly. I just **know** he's smirking. He then set me down again on the water and proceeded to tickle my waist.

"Stop!" I cried between bursts of laughter. I didn't mind him at all...I was actually enjoying the whole body contact thing. After a while I managed to retaliate and our tickle fight began across the entire pool. Exahusted, I stood against the pool wall, Greg standing in front of me, his hands on either side of me, making sure I wouldn't swim away. Gasping for breath, I managed a full blown smile, remembering what had occurred moments before. I looked up, meeting Greg's eyes. He started to laugh and so did I for a while until we made eye contact again...we didn't move from where we stood at all. Suddenly, my cell phone's alarm beeped, I snapped out of whatever it was that froze me and so did Greg. "We should be uh...getting ready..." I said after a while.

"Right," Greg said as he got out. I did the same and we both went inside to go to our respective rooms and shower.

Greg

I stopped in front of my door and looked at the direction Adri's room was, she had just reached the door when I looked away, smiling to myself. Today she opened up to me and finally came clean and I couldn't be happier that I know what happened before. I just hope we catch the guy before he reaches her again and does even worse damage. She's been so good to me and took me in without a fuss. I guess she realized that she had to talk to some one who already trusted her. I took one last look at her and smiled, noticing that she had been looking at me and was blushing. I smiled again and went into my temporary room to get ready.

Adri

Once I reached the door to my room, I glanced in Greg's direction to see half a smile gracing his lips. I just don't get it...is this how it feels? It's different...but soothing in a way...I don't understand...I'm so confused...

After I was done with my shower, I put one one of my most comfortable outfits and slipped on my sneakers. Catherine said that sometimes I reminded her of Greg when he worked DNA due to my attitude when I delivered results. I just shrugged it off for the most part. Once I was dressed, I made my way downstairs to find Greg at the kitchen, cooking. "Thought I'd return the favor since you've been cooking a lot for the past week."

"Thanks..." I began. After dinner, I cleaned up and this time, we took Greg's car to the lab. We usually took one car since we usually left at about the same time anyway. He pulled over and I got out and clocked in before him and went to the locker room to get my coat. Catherine was in there and so was her daughter. "Hey Cath," I said as I greeted the elder female and opened my locker. "How are you Linds?" I said as I smiled at her daughter.

"I'm good," Lindsay said smiling. "Mom said you could teach me!" she said happily.

"Awesome!" I said with another big smile. "I'll arrange a time and day later with your mom...no problem with that Cath?"

"No," she said, smiling at me. "I think that it would be great but could I ask you a favor?"

"Need me to watch her in DNA?" I said before Catherine could ask. She nodded and I looked over to Lindsay. "I have no problem with that...come on Linds..." I said as I made my way out of the locker room and onto DNA. "So...what do you want to do?"

"Can I play games on your computer?" she asked.

"Just for a while..." I said as I began to work on various DNA samples from Grissom's case.

"Thanks..." Lindsay said as she began to play something and I turned on the radio for a while to prep my voice. I sang softly and stopped at the sound of someone knocking at the window before me. I looked up to meet Nick's eyes as he pointed to the printer. I signaled him to come in and he did as asked, turning off my music.

"Your results should be out soon," I said as I finished up with the last of the priority DNA samples.

"Nick," Grissom said as he came in. "The relative finally came in for questioning, Sara's already there..."

"I'll give you the results as soon as you get back..." I said as I looked around for something. Nick nodded and left the room. I kept busy doing some other things until the clock marked half past eleven. "Hey Lindsay...wanna come with me to the breakroom? It's battle of the techies night..."

"What's that?" Lindsay asked while looking up from the Teen People magazine I gave her to read.

"It's something me and Archie organized...it's a kareoke contest...sorta..."

"Cool!" Lindsay cried as she placed the magazine on the table. "Let's go!" she said as she ran out of the DNA lab and made her way to the break room. I made sure that there was nobody around and followed suit. Once in the room, everyone that wanted to be there, was there. Well, except Hodges. But he really didn't want to be a part of this...either he's tone deaf, which really doesn't matter in kareoke...or it just isn't his thing.

"All right!" Archie cried. "The grand master is here!"

"Actually," Sophia corrected. "It's mistress..."

"Haha, she's right Arch..." I said in agreement with Sophia.

"Anyway, you should go first...not only to break the ice but just because you gave me the idea..." Archie said with a smile as he handed me the microphone. Everyone cheered and though I hesitated, agreed.

"Do your worst Arch..." I said smirking as he looked around the CD case, looking for a song. I played around with the mic while Archie looked through the case for a second time. "I don't have all night Arch..."

"Neither do we..." Jaqui said as Archie finally picked out a CD.

"Got it!" he said as he placed the CD on the radio. Soon the opening notes of 'First' by Lindsay Lohan played and I just stared at him. "Hey...this is just for fun..."

"True..." I said as I signaled him to start the song again. I started slightly quiet, not sure of myself, as always, but a nudge from Lindsay caused me to finally give in. The volume of my singing increased and I frankly, lost it. I acted like the clichés...thought that I was the only one there and gave it everything. Once done, the sound of the techies clapping brought me back from my world.

"I was right!" Archie cried. "You are good! My ears weren't decieving me last week," he said smiling while I just blushed and looked away. I swear that Greg had been at the hall...I mean, at least...that was him...I couldn't see well...he just hid when I looked up.

"Fine...as payback, you have to sing Usher's 'Throwback," I said as I looked for the CD and once I did, repleced it with the one on the radio and hit play. After the first chorus...I was surprised...he wasn't bad...

Greg

I had just gotten back from a scene whichCatherine andWarrick had decided to stay behind in when I heard signing coming from the break room. I made my way carefully, trying to make sure that nobody saw me. I then noticed that all of the labs were empty with the exception of trace...guess Hodges wasn't into whatever the thing that was causing the singing. I finally reached the area near the breakroom and noticed that the one who was singing was Adri. She had her eyes closed and was lost in her own little world, one that I would like to be a part off in the future. She's such a great person inside and out...

After a few of the other techs went, they huddled up and talked a little before finally departing the room, Adri taking her CD case and Archie taking the kareoke system. Her smile was wide and Lindsay was congratulating her on her song. Adri hugged Lindsay and thanked her while they made their way to DNA. I left my hiding place and made my way over as well, wondering what the laughing was about.

"Hey you two," I said as I stepped into the lab.

"Hey!" Lindsay cried happily. Adri turned around and gave me a small smile as a greeting.

"What's up?" I asked, wondering what their answer could be.

"Coming back from break..." Adri said as she reached into a cabinet and pulled out something. "Hey Linds...get the ice cream and spoons..."

"You know you're not supposed to eat in here..." I began as Lindsay smiled at Adri and ran off to get what was asked.

"I've got nothing else to do..." she replied as she pulled out a few small books...I think.

"Greg used to hide things around here too..." Nick's voice commented from behind me as he came in.

"That would explain it..." Adri said, smirking.

"Explain what?" Sara's voice asked as she joined the crowd.

"The porn and stale Blue Hawaiian I found here last week..." Adri said while smirking once again. I hid my face in shame but she just laughed. I could hear Nick and Sara laughing as well...I haven't been this embarrased in a long time. "They're safe Greg if that's what's on your mind..." Adri said jokingly as she placed a hand on my shoulder. She then tilted my chin up so we met eye to eye. "And I'm sorry for making fun of you..." she said sincerely. I could hear fading footsteps as Nick and Sara walked away.

"It's okay...I guess I've done that to you one to many times anyway..." I said while shrugging.

"Yeah...but we're even now..." Adri said as she removed her hand from my shoulder.

"Guess we are..." I said in agreement and Lindsay stepped in.

"Now if you'll excuse us...it's girl's only hour..." Adri said as she pushed me out of DNA and closed the door. I watched her pull up a chair and sit down across from Lindsay and grabbing a spoon. She then gave Cath's daughter a book that to my understanding, was printed wrong. Adri looked around and our eyes met again. After waving me away with a flick of the wrist, I walked off as requested, still mistified by the things she did.

* * *

Okay...now that that's done...why not review? And if anyone's interested in hearing about my other Greg/OC fic, feel free to write to my email address on my profile! Okay...until next time! 

Up next: **Reunion and How to Live with Temptation**


	10. Reunion and How to Live with Temptation

Hey peeps! Laski is here with another update for Hidden Cry...about time...oh I dunno. Anyway, I'm going to try to update every Monday if I have the time...just so you know. All right, before proceeding to the chapter, I would like to thank Shelbers(I'm glad you're back! And I'm also glad that you liked the idea behind the previous chapter...and I know that it was a classic interruption...but anyway, thanx for the compliments!), csi-sam-sanders (thanx for another review and I'm glad you liked the chapter. I'm still considering the publishing of the other fic but I dunno yet...), Gregsgirl4ever (I had no problem explaining the whole Latino thing...I was very happy to do so! Thanx for the compliments! Very muchappreciated!) and CatherineLouise (I know that the direction seemed a bit odd but here it gets more interesting...at least...I think so anyway...but your spidey senses maybe right...) for reviewing. Not sure how this one looks but anyway...on to the chapter!

Thought it was about time I introduced another OC onto the story...anyway, the same disclaimer as always...

* * *

Chapter 10  
Reunion and How to Live with Temptation  
Adri

"Thanks for listening Adri..." Lindsay said after telling me her boy troubles. I still think that I'm the wrong person for advice of males...take a look at the track record...but I don't have the heart to tell Lindsay that. "You're kinda like the big sister I don't have..."

"That's sweet," I said as I finished up my last spoonful of ice cream. She walked over to me and hugged me in response. "Your welcome..."

"So..." she began as she let go of me and sat down. "Do you like Greg?"

"As a friend? Yeah...he's been a great one to me..." I said without thinking much.

"No, I meant as more than that..." Lindsay said.

"Well...I uh..." I tried to find my words.

"Guess you've thought about it..."

"Isn't it soon?" I asked.

"Nope..." Catherine said as she came in. I bit my lip in embarrassment..."Love has no exact time..."

"You sure?" I asked.

"Yeah..." Catherine responded as she lost herself in her thoughts. "I remember meeting this one man years ago. He was a heck of a lot better than Eddie but back then I didn't notice it. Now I regret it deeply...I let him go...but if were able to go back in time and make the choice again...I'd take him...we only looked at each other from the club and I knew that he was special...after talking to him for a few seconds, I realized that he saw me as a real woman and not some piece of entertainment...we talked for a few more hours and we went our separate ways. We say each other a few more times and heck, we even kissed. The feeling to this day barely leaves my memories..."

"Maybe fate had it inscribed for us another chance..." I heard a familiar deep voice say. I looked at the door to see my father. Catherine turned around at the sound of the voice and she couldn't believe it.

"Dad?" I asked, snapping them out of the trance. He walked over and hugged me and then turned to Cath. I suddenly remembered the story he'd tell me after I turned nineteen. "She's the one you met while we lived here in Vegas!"

"Right..." he said as he took Catherine's hand and brought it to his lips. "I'm very happy to see you again _señorita..._" he said as he kissed her hand. Catherine blushed slightly and Lindsay and I couldn't believe it.

"Um..." I began as I began to pick up the mess. "Let's leave them alone to catch up..." I whispered to Lindsay. She nodded and helped me clean up. I picked up the dirty dishes and she picked up the reading material and we quitely left, leaving them to sort things out and catch up. "Can you believe it?" I asked as we reached the break room.

"No!" Lindsay said, squealing slightly. "To think, we were talking about you being the big sis I don't have..."

"Yeah I know...to think that it could lead to that...I mean...my dad's really got it for your mom...he'd tell me the story every day until I moved to Italy..."

"And my mom for your dad..."

"What are you two squealing about?" Nick asked.

"Uh...nothing big Nick..." I said as Linds gave me one of the reading materials she brought in.

"By the way, I went by to check on the results earlier but forgot to ask..." Nick began.

"Oh...they should be printing out soon..." I said in response.

"Who's that man that's talking to Catherine in DNA?" Grissom asked as he came in. He then noticed that I was out of office... "You should be in DNA you know..." Grissom said, scolding me slightly and leaving the room.

"Yeah I know," I said as I opned the "book".

"It's printed backwards...you should send it back to the company..." Nick commented as he noticed how I read.

"Nope...then I'd ruin it..." I said, not bothering to look up.

"Really?" Nick asked after my answer, he seemed intrigued about it.

"Yeah," I said as I looked up. "This is Manga and it's printed the very same way that it was written, meaning, right to left," I explained.

"Manga?" he asked. "Isn't that sleeve in Spanish?"

"Yeah...but it also mean's Japanese style comic books(A/N: I think that's the rough translation...). Most if not, all anime is based on these," I said as I kept reading.

"You're getting wierder every day..." Nick said as he began to make his way outside.

"And that's how I like her..." Greg said, smiling, as he came in. I tried to hide my blush with the Manga I was holding but I had no such luck...Greg saw it...**and** decided to pester me about it... "You shouldn't hide that color...it's cute..." he said as his voice trailed off. Linday was giggling at that point.

"Lemme guess..." I began as the color went down a little. "You like that too..."

"Yeah..." he said as he walked over to me and bent down to whisper in my ear. "I don't like to see you sad..." he whispered, my eyes teared up a little and I bit my lip, trying to hide my smile. "You..."

"Yes," I interrupted as I placed the Manga on the table and reached out to hug him. He didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around me in return. "I'm going to be okay..." I whispered softly.

"Me too..." he whispered as we finally let go. I straightened up again as Warrick came in for a cup of coffee.

"Can I ask you guys a question?" he spoke as he finished serving himself.

"Sure..." I said as I placed my Manga on the table again.

"How do you live with temptation?" he asked as he took a sip.

"What do you mean?" Greg asked as he sat down next to me.

"Well, I just questioned this suspect and he said that he'd been tempted to do a lot of things to the victim but had a hard time doing so..." Warrick answered.

"Well..." I began, this topic made me really uncomfortable. "There are ways to deal with it but it also depends on what the temptee is," I continued. Warrick eyed me curiously and waited for me to keep going. "For example, I love chocolates and if I were tempted to have one of those unbelievable delicious morsels..." I said, soon realizing that I had made myself hungry for one. "Excuse me for a moment..." I said as I reached for my purse and pulled out a handfull of Hershey's kisses. Warrick and Greg laughed as I uwrapped one and popped it into my mouth. I quickly ate a few and continued. "As I was saying...if I was tempted to eat chocolate...like I made myself crave for one, I would likely eat it or try to find something to get my mind off it...but if it were a person, we'd most likely act it if we're sure of the response we'd get...or just try to see how long you can hold out until..." I was tearing up a little, memories clouding my thoughts. "Until you just can't hold it in or get it out of your head..." I said softly as finally, two tears fell. I needed to leave and fast... "I'll see you later guys...I've got something to work on..." I said as I nearly ran into DNA which was empty.

Greg

"Did I say something wrong?" Warrick asked looking at me and Lindsay.

"Maybe..." I said as I got up.

"She seems to know a lot about it..." Warrick commented as I started to leave.

"Yeah..." I said as I left for DNA. I found it to see Adri curled up in her chair, hugging her knees. "Adri?" I called out weakly as I stepped in. She looked up, tears falling down her cheeks at full speed. I just stood there, not sure of what to say... "Care to share what went through your head?" I finally asked.

"Greg..." she began in a soft voice, nearing a whisper. "Have you ever been tempted to hit me?" she asked weakly. Instantly understanding, I walked over to her and kneeled down to her size. I placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, my lips feeling the softness of her skin. I stood up and started to leave but then remembered her question.

"I've been tempted to do that..." I said with an embarrassed smile. I turned and left, leaving her in her thoughts for just a while. I watched her from a distance. She burried her face in her knees for a moment and looked up with a nervous smile. She then closed her eyes briefly and stretched. She then opened them without sheding tears and half smiled before getting back to work. I made my way back to DNA to check on her, my concern getting the better of me.

"Anything else Greg?" Adri asked as I came in.

"How'd you know it was me?" I asked while staying near the doorway.

"Your walk..." Adri commented as she turned around, beaker in hand. "It's peppy..."

"You could tell by my walk?" I asked, confused.

"The way you step...I can sometimes tell people apart because of it..."

"Nick was right..."

"I keep getting wierder?"

"Kinda..."

"But you haven't seen my true colors yet Greg..."

"I know..." I said as I made my way over to her. "But I don't need to see much to know that you're someone different...and that I would like to go out with you..." I began.

"I don't feel up to it..." she said softly. "I'm not..."

"It's okay..." I began. "I only brought it up on a whim...I know you're still a little hesistant for such things..." I explained. I reached out and played with her hair as I sat down next to her. "I just want you to know that I like you...and I'd like to see where it could go..."

"Right now I don't..." she said simply. I felt hurt. "...I just don't want you deeply involved in this mess until I can sort it out..."

"I get it...I think..." Adri laughed lightly and turned to me.

"Greg...you've been such a great friend to me...I don't want to lose that now..."

"So there's chances?"

"They could be there...I just need to focus better...but don't press your luck..."

"Will do Dri..." I said with a smile. She smiled back and ruffled my hair, messin' up the spikes. "What was that for?"

"For being a tricky one..." she said as she finished up the sample she was working on.

"Okay," I said, giving up on the suject for a while. "You're the one to talk..."

"Hey...I have reasons to be tricky..." Adri defended as she took off one of the gloves.

"Adri, could I ask you a favor?" asked Catherine as she interrupted the conversation.

"What do you need?" Adri asked as she turned to see her.

"Well...I took the night off tomorrow so um...could you babysit?" she asked as suddenly, a man with a strking resemblance to Adri wrapped his arms around her. Was that...her dad?

"Sure...daddy, you know where to drop her off..." Adri responded. This was odd...

"I promise to spend a few days here with you...I just never expected to see you again _cariño..._" Adri's dad said while giving Catherine a peck on the cheek.

"Dad?" Adri said, getting his attention. "Please do that somewhere else...I don't want to see that right now..." Adri said with pleading eyes.

"As you wish dear..." he father said as he took Cath's hand and left.

"They're dating?" I asked. "Since when?"

"They fell in love years ago...but Cath chose Eddie over him instead..." Adri explained with a heavy sigh.

"Can't wait until you finally find it?" I asked for her.

"Yeah...but I'm happier now than a few years back..." she said softly. "Thanks to you..." she said nervously.

"I'm glad," I said as I hugged her. "You deserve to be happy..."

"Thank you..." she whispered softly as we separated. A few hours later, we went home together and had a quick breakfast before heading to bed. The next few days Adri or I babysat Lindsay on the afternoons while Adri's father and Cath went out. On one occasion though Adri left me alone at the house so she could spend the day with him. He was a great person and I could tell that he was very proud of Adri, as to not intrude on their father daughter bonding, I rejected the invitation to the lunch and movie they had decided as their activities for the day. Adri's case wasn't being worked on much but we all still had high hopes. I had just arrived at the lab alone, just like the past three nights to see Adri working away in DNA already.

"Hey Adri..." I said as I came in.

"Hey Greg," she said as she turned to see me. She finished working on the GCMS and stood across from me.

"Long week..." I commented.

"You're telling me..." Adri said while rolling her eyes at me. She then tried to walk but nearly fell.

"You all right?" I asked. She then touched her forehead as she regained her balance and straighetened up. I then thought about the fact that lately I hadn't seen her at home and her room had remained the very same the past few days. "How long have you been here?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest.

"Oh about three to four days..." she said with a twirl of her hand.

"Straight?" I asked loudly, recieving a small nodd from her. I couldn't believe it...I hadn't even noticed...she seemed fine the past three days...but then again...she does keep a few changes of clothes in her locker. "You need bed rest! You could make a mistake that could let a guilty man go free!"

"You sound like Grissom..." Adri said sleepily. "But I'm fine," she said as she tried to walk to me. She misstepped and began to fall but I grabbed her on time.

"You can't even walk...you're exahusted...you need rest before you land in the hospital..." I said as I helped her up. "When's Mia coming back?"

"Tomorrow..." Adri said weakly.

"You could've told me you were tired...I could've worked Mia's shift..." I argued. Adri winced at the tone my voice had taken.

"I decided against it..." Adri agrued in a weak voice.

"Please tell me you've at least eaten something these past few days," I begged as she nearly collapsed again.

"Yes!" Adri cried in a firm voice. "The other reason I didn't say anything is because I have a throbbing headache caused by bad memories that haven't gone away...I'm not made of stone!"

"You never said you were! You're entitled to have weaknesses and you're entittled to have problems too..." I said, my volume going down a little. "You shouldn't consider yourself as one," I said softly, looking her overworked body up and down. "You're going home!" I said firmly.

"No!" Adri cried. "I've got work to do..." she said as she turned around. Man she was being stubborn...

"Oh no you don't," I said as in one movement, lifted her off the tiled floor and cradled her in my arms. She then yawned slightly and pouted. "I'm taking you home."

"Fine...go ahead...see if I care."

"You want to sleep and you know it...you're just afraid of the memories to catch up to you...I'll work the rest of your shift while you sleep...if anything, just call me and I'll be right there..." I said as I walked out of DNA and headed to my car. Deciding to take Adri's instead, I asked her to unlock the car for me so I could place her in the backseat. As I did so, she let out a weak sob. "I'm only doing this because I'm worried about you...right now, I could care less of the evidence..." she weakly smiled at my words as I closed her door and got into the driver's seat. She then handed me the keys over my shoulder and I started the car and the average, quiet ride home. Once there, I got out and opened her door to see her sound asleep, like a little girl...if she heard that, she'd have my head. Laughing to myself, I undid her seat belt and got her out, carrying her the same way as before. Closing the door with my back, I made my way inside and towards her room. Colin was right behind me, curious as to why I was carrying his owner. Once inside her room, I set her down on her king size bed gently and turned her over so I could remove the Lab coat to take it back with me.

"Greg?" Adri called out weakly.

"Yeah...it's me," I said softly. "We just got here..." I whispered as I pulled off the covers on one side of the bed.

"Can you get me the make up remover and some cotton pads from the bathroom?" she asked softly while trying to sit up. "I'm really tired, I'll admit it now...but I think I can do that..."

"No problem..." I said as I went into the bathroom. "It's in the medicine cabinet right?"

"Yeah..." Adri said as I opened the cabinet and spotted them. I got the items she asked for and closed it, making my way back to the room. Adri had already turned on the AC unit. I handed her the items she asked for and I signaled her to turn around so I could remove her necklaces for her. "You shouldn't be doing this you know..." she said softly as I took off the first one.

"I know..." I said in return, taking off the second one. "I just want to..." I said while removing the last one and placing them all on the nightstand.

"I'm done..." Adri said as she tossed the cotton pads in the garbage and placed the conatiner on the other nightstand. She turned to me and I could see the dark circles under her eyes, which disappointed me...I thought she knew better...

"Adri..." I began as I helped her get under the covers. "You are not moving from this bed, you need the rest...if anything happens, just call my cell...all right?"

"Yes..." she said softly as she closed her eyes. I leaned down and kissed her forehead gently, treating her like a child yet at the same time, like someone I care for deeply...

"Good night," I whispered as I made my way out of the room and turned off the lights. I made my way outside, locking the door, just in case. I got into her car and drove back to the lab, just in time to see the others waiting for me outside. Uh-oh...

* * *

I dunno if that's much of a cliffy...but anyway, I'd really appreciate a review! 

Up Next: **Questions**


	11. Questions

Hey people! Laski(short for michelaski if you don't notice easily...no offense...) here with chapter 11 in tow. I know that I said last week that I'll usually update Mondays but I found myself some free time on my hands and I finished up this today so...didn't think much about it. I do however, have my doubts about this chapter but then again...when don't I?

Before proceeding to the chapter, I'd like to thank Shelbers(I know that the whole adri/linds thing is wierd but Adri's never had siblings and she's always wanted one so...I guess it fit...and yer right about that though, they aren't waiting for Greg due to a case...), CatherineLouise(I'm glad you loved the chapter! And indeed, it was a form of love although Greg still isn't sure of what he feels...did I just give that away?) and csi-sam-sanders(thanx! Hope you like this one too!) for reviewing...and now...without further ado...Questions!

Standard disclaimer as always people...

* * *

Chapter 11  
Questions  
Greg

"Where's Adri?" asked Grissom as I walked over to them.

"Home," I said simply. "She's overworked herself for the past four days...she never even set foot inside the house..."

"What are you getting at?" Nick asked.

"Hold on," Warrick began. "You're telling me that she's spent four days in a row working in DNA?"

"Yep...I had to carry her out..." I answered.

"That explains it...but she's all right?" Catherine asked.

"Yes," I answered. "She just needs rest..." I said as I went by them and headed to DNA to work in Adri's place. I heard the door open and turned around to see Grissom standing there.

"You're going to work in her place?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered while picking up where Adri had left off.

"Call me tomorrow to tell me how she wakes up...I might give her the night off though," Grissom said while leaving. I expected less from him but anyway...Adri's been pushing herself far more than anyone else around here. After working on most of the DNA evidence, I took a break, bringing with me one of Adri's mangas that were around DNA, very well hidden I might add. I looked at the cover, the one I picked was tittled _Naruto_. I began to read it and found myself laughing at certain times. After I was done, I wondered if Adri had volume two around so I could keep reading...this one caught my attention a little.

"Don't tell me..." Sara began as she came in for her break. "You read those things too?"

"News spreads fast around here..." I said as I placed the manga on the table.

"Actually," Warrick said as he came in. "Only us CSI's know...well...Archie does too but that's because Adriana and Archie have become good friends..." I admit, that last bit made me feel jealous...but why should I be? Adri's just my friend...right? I shook it off, deciding to deal with it later.

"I found this...it's cool..." I said as I picked it up and went over to Warrick so he could see. "Anyway, my break's over...see ya guys..." I said as I picked up my coffee mug from the table and moved over to DNA. I placed the first volume of Naruto where I found it and got back to work, thinking of whether or not I should ask Adri where the second one was. Soon, shift was over and I was able to go back to Adri's place. I took her car instead of mine and once I reached the house, I was relieved to find the door locked, just like I had left it. I went in, locked the door behind me, a habbit I got from Dri and went upstairs to check on her. I slowly opened the door and I looked around in confusion, her clothes were thrown in one corner of her room...guess she changed into her pj's after I left. I noticed that she was tossing and turning, her comforter nearly gone.

"No..." she whimpered in her sleep. Oh no...nightmares...just like she had mentioned. I dropped my stuff at the door and approached the bed carefully, as to not get hurt myself in the process. "Don't touch me..." she whispered. To hell with caution, I said to myself as I climbed onto the bed and pulled her to me, the back of her hand hitting my face.

"Calm down Adri..." I whispered as I rubbed her back. "It's just your head...it's not real..." I kept whispering in hopes that she could hear me. After what seemed to me like hours, she calmed down and her breathing had evened out. I then felt her move in my arms and I found out that she had woken up.

"What happened?" she asked weakly as she rubbed one of her eyes. She blinked a few times, everything regaining focus for her. "Your nose is bleeding..."

"Must've been when you hit me..." I said as I noticed a box of tissues at one nightstand. I reached out for one but Adri beat me to it. She began to clean the small traces of blood and gave me a new one.

"'Kay...lie down and tilt your head back a little," she said as she helped me out. "I'm so sorry...it was an accident..."

"I know...you were having a bad dream..."

"Yeah..." she said, slightly embarrassed. "But aren't you supposed to be at the lab?" she asked.

"No...shift's over..." I said as I closed my eyes for a while. "I just came to check on you..."

"That's sweet..." she said softly...how I wanted to see the smile that was probably decorating her features right now...okay...poetic...that's just wierd.

"I always am with girls like you..." I said sweetly, recieving a smack on the head in return.

"Nice try," Adri replied with a laugh. "Be more creative next time...there might be better responses instead..."

"I'll keep that in mind then..." I said while trying to smile.

"Lemme see your nose..." she said as she moved closer to me. I removed the tissue and opened my eyes slightly. "It's good...you can sit up now..." I slowly sat up and looked around, the lights had been turned on. "Thanks for your help..."

"And thank you for reminding me that it was all in my head..." Adri said, smiling. "You should go rest up...I'm still sleepy..."

"You sure you don't need anything else?" I asked as I got off her bed.

"Yeah...I'm sure," Adri said as she walked me over to her bedroom door. "You've done enough for now...thanks," she said while giving me a peck on the cheek and closing the door to her room. I just stood there for a moment, surprised...yet happy...are there really chances between us? I turned around and walked to my room in a daze. I showered and went to bed thinking about Adri's kiss. When I woke up the next morning, I could hear a knock at the door. The door opened a little as Adri snuck her head in. "Hey...you're up..."

"Yeah," I said as I sat up. "How'd you sleep?"

"Better..." Adri said with a red color on her cheeks.

"Good...because I did too," I said as I got off the bed. She stayed at the door, not moving away from me as I walked closer to her. I opened the door fully and we just stared at each other. It reminded me of the moment at the pool about a few weeks back, looking at each other in some sort of trance, unsure of what would happen. Our eyes had a bond that hadn't broken. Adri smiled weakly and I returned it without hesitation. The connection then broke in Adri's part due to Colin, who was on his hind legs, wanting her to pick him up. (A/N: Yet another close call...I seem to be good at this...haha, anyway, I wonder what will happen next time they encounter this type of silence?) "You should do that while you can still hold him..." I reminded her as she picked him up.

"I know..." Adri said with another smile. "Come on...lunch is served..." she said as she turned around and made her way downstairs. I followed her and I noticed that her pj's didn't match for the umpteenth time I've stayed here.

"Do you do that to get my attention?" I asked as we reached the kitchen. She bent down and placed Colin on the floor while he trotted off to his food dishes. She turned to me as she straightened up and tucked a stray strand of her long brown hair behind her ear, which I had just noticed had two piercings.

"Do what?" she asked. "Why are you looking at me funny anyway?"

"Your pj's...they never match..." I commented as I noticed that the other ear had the same amount of piercings.

"I like them that way...it's the only way I express my uniqueness..."

"You should do that at work more often..." I commented, trying to think of a way to ask about when she got the second hole in her ear.

"Nah..." she replied as she sat down. "They already suspect me as wierd...don't want to make them find out **how** wierd I am..."

"You shouldn't care about what people say..."

"Hm...that's odd..."

"What?"

"You've just told me that I shouldn't care for what people say about me so that means, everytime you call me adorable or whatever, I shouldn't believe you...right?" she asked with a smirk. Uh oh...need to backtrack and fast.

"No," I said quickly. "I just mean that..." I continued, trying to think of what to say but nothing came to mind. "Oh crap..." I muttered in the end, giving up. Adri laughed and I just hid my face in shame. We ate the rest of the meal in sinlence, with the exception of a sitffled giggle coming from Adri, she couldn't believe she shut me up. "No use trying to take it back?" I asked after a while.

"Maybe..." Adri said with a smirk.

"What do I have to do?" I asked, rather curious.

"Hm..." Adri began as she got up to clean her dishes. "I don't know...but why do you keep looking at me funny?"

"When did you get the second hole in your ear?" I blurted out as my answer. She laughed, holding her sides.

"You noticed that just now?" she asked while breathing. I managed a weak nod as she finally calmed down a little. "I've had them for years...I just downplay them so nobody notices them...I would just hate it if people thought lesser of me for it...I love having it though...it looks good but it doesn't look profesional, or so I was told..." she explained. "That's why I hide them during my shifts at the lab..."

"What about me?" I asked. "Don't I deserve to see more of the real Dri?" she just eyed me, thinking about what to say.

Adri

I have no idea how I'm going to answer that...I mean, he knows me way better than anyone at the lab although Archie's getting close but not as much as Greg has. I looked into his chocolate brown eyes, wondering what had gone through his head just then. He's gotten hard to read lately and it's not helping me...I just don't know what to do...what to say...what I'm feeling...I shouldn't like him in that way...it'd just be the same pain and anguish...but what if it isn't? No, I can't think about it...I just have to give it a rest...we still have a "date" pending as well...but Dri...STOP THINKING AND ANSWER THE QUESTION!(A/N: Inner "battle" you could say...)

"You're right..." I said after an awkward silence. "You **do** deserve to see more of the real me...so here!" I cried slightly while moving my hair over to one side. "Take a look! Admire the ugliness I behold!" Talk about laying it down thick...you just exposed the insecurity...very smooth Adriana...you just told him how you think you look...

"You think that?" Greg asked, entirely surprised. I looked down at my feet, I couldn't bear to look into his eyes anymore..."Yeah..." I said weakly. "I have...that's why I usually brush it off when you talk to me about my appearance...occasionally thinking I've looked otherwise..." I could hear him walking over to me...God, I just played the 'pity me' card...now he'll never like me. Wait, what am I thinking? It's Greg! He stopped just a few inches from me, taking my hands, which neared fists at the moment, in his. He lifted them up and I released the fists and held his hands as he'd want. I slowly looked up, just in time to see him lace his fingers between mine.

"Don't do this to yourself..." he whispered, taking another step close to me. "Adri, you're not ugly...you've never been such a thing...you're diminishing yourself to what one person has said and he's just out there to hurt you..." he pressed his body onto mine slightly, pinning me against the counter so I wouldn't leave. "What I mean is, he wants to see you torn and doubting yourself like you're doing right now and this isn't you," he said, keeping his voice in a whisper. I was scared...I don't know where this could lead. "I want you to take that out your mind and I want you to remember that it's one guy who feels that way...you're forgetting the rest of them, including me. I know it could be asking a lot from you but, you shouldn't revolve your world around the negative things people or what he says about you...there are people who can and will and do like you for who you are..." The emotion in his eyes was too hard to bear...I just had to look away. In the small silence that followed my turning away, he separated one of his hands from mine and gently moved my face so I could look at him again.

"Greg I..." I began in a similar whisper, trying to find words. He saved me the trouble by placing his index finger gently over my lips, silencing me...

"Adri, just listen right now..." he said as his free arm snaked its way around my waist. "I want you to do that for me...well not just me...for yourself..."

"But..."

"Listen...then object..." Greg said as he let go of my other hand and had it moment's later secured at my waist. "I just want you to stop thinking of youself as undeserving, ugly and not worthy of somethings..." he stopped, thinking about what he was saying. "I sound like a preachy father...right?" he asked me.

"No..." I answered, letting my arms settle around his neck for a while. "You don't..."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Your words come from the heart...they aren't preachy or lectury..." I said as he raised one of his hands and gently moved my head so it rested comfortably on his chest. I could hear his heartbeat and relaxed at the steady breathing. "But I'm fine...it's just that I've always kept this insecurity hidden, never bothering to speak of it...but don't think that I've never thought of myself as good looking...I've thought it...it's just that nobody mentions it...I like it when people admire my appearance Greg, just like every other girl...it's just that I never hear it...and that creates the various 'what if's?'...and mom is probably going haywire up in the heavens for that..."

"She shouldn't worry...I'll make sure that they get erased by better thoughts..."

"Hahaha...nice one..." I said in my normal tone. "But I'll be fine..."

"Really?"

"Yeah...I've had this problem before...I just need to be reminded that I'm not alone anymore..."

"And how can I help with that?"

"You can help by staying here with me right now, just like this...just loose the extra pressure on my hips and we're good."

"Right," he said as he stepped away a little. "Sorry..."

"Thanks..." I whispered as I closed my eyes again, breathing deeply. "I'll be fine Greg...you've done a lot for me...can't thank you enough..." he took in a deep breath to speak but I beat him to it. "And if the word "date" is a part of your next sentence...don't bother saying it at all..."

"Deal..." he said with a small laugh and resting his head on top of mine. I relaxed and detachtted myself from my surroundings, dozing off slightly...

Greg

Adri's insecurities were just like the ones every other girl had, but it worried me that she seemed to wrapped up in it sometimes. But then again...they mostly concentrated on what one guy has said. But Adri's a quick healer and she knows what she's doing...so I should trust her and be there if the need arises. In my arms, she was as safe as she could be and I only wish she could be there always...we'd been in the same embrace for a while when I heard Adri's breathing evened out. She'd fallen asleep again...but I don't mind...she needs the rest. I picked her up in the same fashion as last night and put her to bed, making a mental note to call Grissom as soon as I was done with my shower.

"Grissom," said man said when he answered the phone.

"It's Greg," I began. "Adri woke up, ate some lunch and fell asleep again...she's in bed right now," I said as I checked on her for the third time in the past two minutes.

"Good," Grissom said, slightly pleased. "You have the night off yourself..."

"I do?" I asked in surprise.

"Yes," he said firmly. "I want you to make sure she gets some proper rest and you deserve it as well...but tomorrow I want to see you two early..."

"For a talk?" I asked, confused.

"No, for work," Grissom said as he hung up. Sometimes I couldn't understand him...but then again, he's my boss and he's into bugs...what more is there to say? I decided to stop checking on Adri for a while since it wouldn't do good for my head which was right now a mess of thoughts. After about an hour of trying to sort my thoughts and emotions out, I decided to give it a rest and went to bed. It's getting so complicated...she pulls away a lot, yet at the same time, she leans in...

* * *

Thoughtful ending no? Anyway, I'd really appreciate some reviews and until next chapter!

Up next: **Funny and Cute Occurences**


	12. Funny and Cute Occurences

Hey people! Pardon for the late update but last week I had a big test to get ready for and it was a long weekend too so...I can slack off a little...right? Anyway, before proceeding to the chapter, I'd like to thank Shelbers(I know...the 'date' is coming up soon though...I just need to think on it a little more...but I promise that it's on its way!), csi-sam-sanders (Thanx for your support yet again! Here's the update!) and CatherineLouise (I was very happy to read your observation and you may have a point...I just hope not to rush things later on...anyway, I'm glad you loved the previous chapter! Here's the next one!) for reviewing. Onto another brief note, this chapter is a little lighthearted, hence the name...no more delays...here's chapter 12 for ya!

Standard disclaimers apply...as always...

* * *

Chapter 12  
Funny and Cute Occurences  
Adriana

"Afternoon Dri," Greg said as he entered the kitchen the next day after my outburst. I was rather nervous being around him now since he knew how I occasionally felt about my appearance. "How'd you sleep?"

"Good..." I replied, letting my voice trail off. "I've had better though. You?"

"Not that bad..." he answered as he served himself a bowl of cereal. "I wanted to ask you something else yesterday..."

"Shoot," I said as I served myself some milk.

"Do you have, or had for that matter, any eating disorder?" he asked, concern dripping in his words.

"Nope...high metabolisim runs in the family..." I said as I took a sip of milk. "I wouldn't think of it...I mean, why do that type of harm to yourself?"

"Did you consider it?" he asked, clearly trying to find out more about how I felt about myself.

"Maybe once in high school..." I said while thinking it through. "But during my relationship with him, it never crossed my mind...I did think about overexcersizing though...but I never considered anorexia or bulimia as a way to lose weight..." I said as I took another sip of milk. Greg smiled for some unknown internal reason...well...to me at least...a first.

"Good," he said simply as he took the last bite of his cereal and placed the dirty bowl and spoon in the dishwasher.

"What made you ask anyway?" I asked as Greg took my now empty glass, rinsed it and placed it in the dishwasher for me.

"The conversation we had yesterday...most of the night I spent it thinking about it..."

"I fell asleep standing right?"

"Yeah..." Greg answered. I blushed at the thought of me falling asleep standing and in Greg's arms which are really strong and well built come to think of it...snap out of it!

"God that must've been funny..." I said while trying to avoid his eyes.

"A little...but you looked so calm...I didn't bother to wake you up," Greg said while thinking about it. "I just carried you back to bed like the other night..."

"And again," I said with a smile. "I thank you for your kind gesture," I said while heading over to the movie room, Greg right behind me. Once I got there, I sat down on the huge, yet comfortable, blue couch as Greg rummaged my movie collection since it was his turn to pick. He and I had gotten the habbit to at least once a week watch a movie together in this room, without even mentioning it.

"You looked real pretty asleep though..." Greg said after a while, referring to the subject we were talking about in the kitchen. I scoffed as I picked up the nearest cushion and threw it at him, hitting him on the head.

"There are better ways to describe a girl..." I commented after hitting him with a second cushion.

"If that's the way you want it then fine...you looked beautiful while you were asleep..." Greg said smoothly. Taken aback entirely by what he said, I kept my mouth shut. Greg looked at me in confusion although I bet the surprised look in my eyes said it all...after what he said sunk in, I tried my hardest to hide the blush I felt on my cheeks. "And while you're awake, even more so..." Greg said as he placed a movie on the DVD player and looking at me, smirking at the color of my cheeks. He turned on the A/C unit in the room, closed the door and the curtains, turned off the lights while turning on the huge plasma screen and finally, sitting down next to me. The main screen for **The Emperor's New Groove **popped up and I smacked Greg with the first cushion I could grab(A/N: there are four in the couch and I LOVE that movie...). "What was that one for?" he asked. "I haven't said anything!"

"Yeah but you know that, that is my fave movie!" I cried as I whacked him with the cushion again.

"So?" Greg asked.

"Nevermind...but if this is one of your antics to try to ask me out, it won't work," I said as I recieved a whack with the last cushion that remained in the couch. I took that and the silence as my answer. "So that's the way it's gonna be?" I asked while smirking in the slightly dark room.

"Nope...I just want you to quiet down..." Greg said as he yanked my cushion away. I just gazed at him in confusion, what the heck was he up to? The movie started and I just couldn't keep my eyes off him...it was just so confusing. Suddenly, he reached out to me and grabbed me by my waist firmly.

"G-Greg?" I said nervously. I then found myself next to him, his arm over my shoulder.

"Just relax..." he whispered in my ear. "Sorry if I scared you," he said softly as I finally relaxed and focused on the movie. After a while, my head found a spot on his shoulder which he didn't mind and if he did, he said nothing of it. Not long after that, his head rested softtly on top of mine during the remainder of the movie. We shared the same hearty laughs throughout, Greg moving slightly closer to me after a while. When the final credits rolled around, we hesitated to get up.

"We gotta get ready for work," I said while finally standing up and stretching.

"Yeah...Grissom wants us in early..." Greg said as he got up and stretched too.

"For a talk?" I asked.

"No..." Greg said with a smile. "He made it clear that he wanted us there early for work..."

"Oh..." I said as I let my voice trail off. "I see..." I said while thinking and at the same time, left the room. I could hear Greg's footsteps as he followed me to head to his room. Once I reached my room, I quickly showered and dressed, dashing downstairs to make something quick for Greg and me. Greg stepped in as I was serving the mac and cheese with chicken.

"Smells nice..." Greg said with a smile.

"Don't start," I said while sitting down.

"You going to take my advice?" he asked as he sat down opposite of me and proceeded to eat.

"Which one?" I asked.

"The one about showing off more of yourself at the lab...I mean, what I see here is just a fraction of the real you...right?"

"Yeah..." I said with a smirk. "Pretty much."

"Come on!" Greg pleaded. "You've seen more than enough of my antics...when can I see more of yours?"

"Around," I said with yet another smirk. "Don't worry...I've got something up my sleeve so you might be able to see something tonight..." I warned with a small smile.

"Really?" he asked. I could tell from the look in his eyes that the possibilities running through his head were endless. I shook my head slightly, unsure of what to say next. I didn't need to though, we ate the rest of the meal in a peaceful, shared silence. After we were done, Greg cleaned the dishes and I picked up everything needed before we headed to the lab for work. Once we got there, Grissom was standing near the front doors, kit at his feet. As soon as he saw my car, he came over and signaled me to roll down my window.

"I need both of you at a scene," he said.

"Just tell us where to...I'll drive," I suggested. "But why me anyway?"

"Everyone's got an assignment except Greg and myself but it being a triple homicide...we need more help on it," Grissom explained.

"Greggo, move to the backseat and let Grissom ride shotgun," I said as I idled the car.

"Right baby," Greg said as he got out and climbed the backseat. Grissom raised a brow at the pet name, obviously asking for an explination.

"Just him and his flirtatious attempts to get me to date him," I explained as I recieved a kick in my seat. "Hey! It's true!" I cried.

"Yeah but you didn't have to put it that way," Greg said, rather annoyed. I turned around slightly to see him smirking as well. Grissom climbed into the passenger seat and buckled up, trying to ignore our argument.

"It's at the Palms, the infamous "Real World Suite", Grissom began as I shifted the car onto reverse.

"Another celeb murder?" I asked, recalling the Tom Hamilton case that flooded the news a few years back.

"Let me guess..." Grissom began. "You followed the Tom Hamilton case?"

"Indeed," I responded while smiling as I shifted the car into drive and headed towards the Palms Hotel. Once we reached the hotel, I handed the keys to a valet and picked up my kit, which I barely touched anyway, Greg picked his and Grissom joined us with his. We entered the hotel with an escort leading us to the suite where we were greeted by Brass. "Hey B," I said with a smile as I surveyed the scene.

"Greetings D," Brass said with a smile. "Three DB's two male and one female."

"Who found them?" I asked before Grissom.

"Housekeeping," Brass answered. "The room was registered to Caroline Anderson..."

"Singer/songwriter," I interjected. "She's also scored minor rolls in kid's movies and done voice talents for cartoon shows..." I kept going. "Let me guess, one male DB is her boyfriend and the other two are high school buddies of hers."

"You're good..." Greg commented under his breath.

"Anyone else stayed in this room with her?" Grissom asked, taking the opportunity that I'd kept my mouth shut.

"Two more girls and her sister, Sophie," Brass said as he pointed out each girl.

"I'll check the girls for any sign of Trace evidence," I said, taking the first thing I could think off.

"Greg," Grissom began. "You photograph the bodies and bag anything," Grissom said as I walked off to the girls. The first order of buisness was the celeb.

Greg

I started to photograph the bodies after getting the time of death from David. After that was done, I looked over to Adri's direction and saw her talking to the rising star and swabbing her hands for any probable evidence. There was something about her that gave off this comforting vibe that assures people that she knew what she was doing, don't we all anyway. I then remembered that I had a job to do and proceeded to process the scene.

"Hey Greggy," I heard Adri's voice say as she joined me. I looked at her in confusion, I mean...where did 'Greggy' come from? "Think of it as payback for calling me 'baby' in front of Grissom," she said with a small smile. "Let's get to work...there's a lot of evidence I'm going to have to sort through on my own, DNA wise of course..." she said as she bent down and examined the scene.

"Anything on the girls?" I asked, taking a photograph of the blood pattern on the floor.

"That looks like arterial spatter..." Adri said as she examined the pattern. "And I found blood on Caroline's shirt and blood in the sandals of the BFF," Adri said as she swabbed a sample of the blood on the floor. I noticed that her hair was up with a blue butterfly clip and a stray bang framed her face delicately. "You should be careful..."

"Why's that?" I asked while moving on to another area of the room.

"This girl is going to hire the celeb lawyer...Marjorie I think her name was..."

"So?"

"She digs deep...she could find out how you failed your first proficiency which I might add, was real stupid of you..." Adri said as she picked up her kit and went to examine the bathroom.

"Hey!" I cried, trying to get her attention but to no avail. She then exited the bathroom, no bags in hand.

"Clean! There's no towels, no paper, no blood on the drain and the worst part...no bleach either..." Adri said while shaking her head. "I'll be right back," she said while taking her kit with her and walking out into the hall.

"Where's she off to?" asked Grissom as he came back from recovering the security tapes.

"Probably the supply closet or something like that," I said as I logged another piece of evidence.

"Got it!" we heard Adri's voice cry from the distance. "Party! Not really...but Hallelujah!" Adri cried as she did the 'Running Man' in the recieving hall, far from the yellow tape. She then relaxed and walked back into the suite. "I know that wasn't proper CSI 2 behavior but I haven't been out on the field for nearly a year...I just had to celabrate. And yes, I know that it could bite me in the ass in court..."

"I guess it's no use scolding you then," Grissom stated.

"Right," Adri said with a smile. I couldn't help but admire it for just a moment. "Need any help Greg?" she asked while turning to me.

"Nope..." I said while smiling.

"You should begin to process DNA," Grissom said as he handed Adri bags of evidence for her to take.

"Right..." Adri said while trying to keep the evidence together. "Could you call someone to pick me up?"

"Sure thing," Grissom said as he picked up his cell phone and called someone. "Archie is on his way, he was the only one available..." he said as he hung up.

"No prob Griss..." Adri said while smiling. "We're good pals..." she finished saying as she placed the evidence bags in one comfortable corner of the scene. She then helped me collecting more evidence until Archie called her cell and she asked him to come up to help her get the evidence to his car.

"Hey guys," Archie said as he came in.

"Hey Arch..." Adri said while smiling at said person. "This is the evidence we need to get to the lab ASAP...I wouldn't want that celeb lawyer badgering me..."

"Right," Archie said as he picked up some of the bags. Adri picked up the rest and left her kit and car keys under my care.

"Just don't crash the car!" Adri cried as she left. "I'm getting it customized next week!"

"Like I'd do that..." I said to nobody in particular.

"Heard that!" Adri's voice cried.

"I don't know how she does it..." I said as I helped out Grissom checking out the rest of the suite. We headed back to the lab a few hours later and recieved all the primary results. The next evening, Grissom, Adri and I were having dinner together talking about the case.

"We've got pretrials in 36 hours..." Grissom told us.

"But I'm not even halfway through the evidence..." Adri said, nearly whining.

"Call in Mia from day's to help then, but it's just us three for the time being," Grissom said while taking a bite of his dinner.

"Grissom...this is too much to ask from her...last week she pulled four days in a row..." I said, defending her.

"Do you remember all the measures Marjorie took in the Hamilton case?" Grissom asked.

"Oh crap...not that again..." Adri said while sighing. "Let me guess...Gerard is the forensics expert..."

"Right again..." Grissom said while looking up at the door. Grissom's mentor, Phillip Gerard stepped in.

"Greetings Grissom, Sanders and..." Gerard began as he came in and eyed Adri in confusion.

"Carrasquillo," Adri said after swallowing. "DNA technician in replacement of Mia," she said while getting up and extending her hand at him. He took it and shook it while thinking of something. "It's an honor..."

"Are you related by any chance to Eduardo Carrasquillo?" he asked Adri after shaking her hand.

"Yes," Adri responded. "He's my grandfather," she finished saying as she sat back down.

"Say 'Hello' to him for me will you?" Gerard finished saying as he focused on Grissom.

"If you'll excuse me," Adri began as she began to clean up her dinner. "I have evidence to analize and I've got a deadline...I'll page you as soon as I get any leads Grissom..." Adri finished saying as she threw away her the containers her food came in, washed and dried her hands before leaving the room, her long hair flowing freely behind her.

"She has determination...but are you sure that it's safe for her to have her hair at that length?" Gerard question as soon as Adri was out of an earshot.

"She always picks up her hair before putting her gloves to work on the procedures," Grissom answered for me. "Either that, or she does it here when she has the hair clip or rubber band nearby."

"How would you know this?" Gerard asked.

"Mere observation..." Grissom responded with a smile. I just kept my mouth shut...I didn't want to be put on the spotlight.

"Grissom," I began as I began to pick up my dirty containers. "I'm going to see if Adriana needs any help in DNA. I think it's better than having to call Mia at this hour," I said as I threw the remainders of my meal away and washed my hands.

"I think you should take a look at the survaillance tapes instead," Grissom said while pointing in the direction of the AV Lab. "You can help Adriana, if she needs it, after you take a look at them."

"All right boss," I said while leaving. "Later," I finished saying while quickly made my way to the AV room.

"Grissom didn't let you help Adri, right?" Archie said as I came in.

"Yeah..." I said while looking at the monitor. "What have you got here?"

"Aside from Adri having a good time celabrating the blood she found...nothing that suspicious...check it out," Archie said as he played the clip. "There's the first happy couple, both deceased, and there's celeb girl with her boyfriend."

"Hold on..." I said as I took a closer look. "Adri's ability hasn't rubbed off on me yet..."

"You hope it does?"

"Maybe. But can you zoom in on the BFF's face?" I asked.

"Sure..." Archie said as he did as I asked.

"She looks jealous..." Adri said as she came in.

"Oh, hey Dri," Archie said with a smile. I looked up and smiled at her as my greeting. I looked back at the girl and Adri was right...

"She does look jealous..." I said in agreement. "We've got motive for her then..."

"Yeah...but I need help in DNA," Adri said while wiping some sweat off her upper lip. "I'm running around doing all the samples of our case and Cath's been ganging up on me for the DNA comparison she needs for her case."

"And you're exahusted?" I asked, recieving a small nodd in response.

"Just a little..." she said softly. "I can't believe that I came back to work a couple of days in a row again..."

"Me either..." I said while looking back at the monitor for a moment. This was a hard decision...I could either disobey Grissom and lend Adri a hand or follow Grissom's orders and not help.

"You can't, can you?" Adri asked as she scanned my eyes.

"Grissom sent me here..." I explained, hoping that she wouldn't be mad at me.

"It's all right...just come over and help as soon as you're done here...I need the extra pair of hands..." Adri said while leaving.

"You like her?" Archie asked while nudging me.

"No! Wait...in what way?" I asked. "Hold on! Why are you even asking?" I asked. Archie laughed at my answer and focused on the monitors in the room.

"No reason in particular..." Archie said. "But, do you?"

"I'm not going to answer that..." I answered. Frankly, I don't know myself either...not yet anyway...

* * *

I kinda liked this ending...I mean, it triggers Greg into **really **think about what he feels...I'd love to recieve a review for you guys... anyway, later! 

Up next: **I'm not a genius...**


	13. I'm not a Genius

A rather average chapter. I'm happy with it although I'm not too sure about it...I'd also like to apologize for the long time between updates but I had a small pile of photocopies to read(all boring plays) and two tests in the interval. Anyway, before the chapter, I'd like to thank csi-sam-sanders and Shelbers for reviewing. Okay...now onto the chapter!

Don't own CSI...just so you know...I only own Adri...

* * *

Chapter 13  
I'm not a Genius...  
Adriana

God! This was getting out of hand! So much evidence! So little time! I paced around DNA, trying to think of a way to get Gerard out of my hair. I just know that he asked Grissom about my hair, and I know that Grissom's now curious as to how I didn't mention who my grandfather was and I know that he's also going to ask why I lied...

"Adri?" asked Grissom as he came in.

"What is it?" I asked, already expecting it.

"Why didn't you mention who your grandfather was?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"I thought you'd recongize the last name when we met, when you didn't I just mentioned etnomology to see if it triggered anything...when nothing happened, I just, dropped the subject," I explained. "Where's Gerard anyway?"

"Left for a while, promising to come back later but don't change the subject."

"Yes," I said finally. "I am your old friend's granddaughter..." Grissom's eyes widened a little and became speechless for the first time since I've worked for him. His eyes widened and I just nodded. He tried to say something but once he realized that he couldn't speak, he nodded and left me alone.

"What was that about?" Greg asked as he came in.

"Grissom speak for 'You've grown up too much'," I explained while trying to contain my laughter.

"Oh...he remembers you now?" Greg commented, reflecting on the conversation we had a few weeks back.

"Yep," I said while letting out a laugh. "What brings you here anyway?"

"Thought you might want to know," Greg began as he sat down in the extra chair I keep in DNA. "Both girls look jealous. Only celeb girl and the deceased one look happy. That gives us possible motive and it helps clear out celeb girl, but we still need more."

"Yeah...what did Al say?"

"Blunt force trauma on the female although she had various minor cuts along her arms and abdomen. Her boyfriend however..."

"Bled out," I interjected, causing him to smile.

"How'd you know?" he asked.

"Well Sanders," I began. "That's the advantage of being a techie...the arterial spatter is a match to him."

"Okay...then how did the other one die?"

"Blunt force trauma although he sustained various bruises from a beating that was premortum," I answered, shutting Greg up. "Which completely surprises me since he's incredibly tall and well built while the girls are rather gangly..."

"I noticed..." Greg said while letting out a sigh. "But have you taken a break?"

"No time..." I began. "This has been horrible..."

"Let me take over..." Greg offered while showing half of his trademark smile.

"Fine," I said while giving in. I really need to take a break...but I don't need to learn when to say no, thank goodness. "Just don't mess anything up."

"No prob," he said while slipping on the latex gloves and got to work. I left, hoping that I was doing the right thing although, my instincs told me that I had. I went to the break room and sat down on the nearest chair while taking in a deep breath.

"You look horrible," Warrick commented as he came in.

"Thanks..." I said while making a face. He laughed and sat down across from me in the table, mug of coffee in his hands.

"How's the case been treating you?" he asked, wondering about my field experience. I could evidently see it in his eyes. "Man it's horrible..." I said while burrying my face in my hands. "I mean, I have no idea what else to do and Greg's running comparisons on the suspects..."

"Got a match to celeb girl!" Greg cried as he came in, looking rather confused. "Grissom found the murder weapon and Jackie's checking it for prints."

"That's good..." I said while taking a deep breath. "We're moving at a good speed then...one thing, did you compare the DNA samples to the other girls to clear them out?"

"Eh...nope..." Greg said as he thought about it.

"You dunce!" I cried without thinking. "This is going to bite my ass in court!"

"Thought you..."

"I happen to like that one..." I interjected. "Thank God Gerard left for a while!" I cried while running off to DNA. Greg was thoughtful on the field but he tended to forget the basic things of DNA...and he was an ex-techie...

Greg

"You forgot to do that?" Warrick asked me as I sat down.

"Yep..." I said while mentally slapping myself. "How could I have been so forgetful?"

"Keep quiet man," Warrick warned me. "You wouldn't want Gerard to hear you..."

"Right," I said while looking at the print out. "I'll try and keep quiet..."

"Good," Warrick said while getting up. "Later man."

"Later," I said as Warrick left. At that, Grissom stepped in.

"Sara just finished her case and picked up the results from the print lab. She should be here any moment," he anounced.

"And Gerard?" I asked, confused at his sudden abscence.

"Don't know and don't care..." Grissom said sourly.

"This makes little sense," Sara said as she came in. "The print in the knife doesn't match Caroline, it matches the best friend..."

"The blood on Caroline's shirt is hers..." I added. "But the one on the friend's sandals matches Caroline's boyfriend."

"This is getting wierd...how can the DNA evidence left on the knife match Caroline and not the best friend...was the print planted there?"

"Here," Adri said as she stepped in and gave me a piece of paper. I looked it over and it still made no sense.

"What's that?" Sara asked as she took the paper from my hands. She read it and slammed it down on the table. "This is great...we've been pulling too much work here that this is even more confusing. The DNA sample matches all three!" Sara cried. Grissom looked at us both in turn, trying to piece it together. Sara kept on rambling, and I could distinctly hear a voice trying to grab our attention.

"GUYS!" Adri cried loudly, getting our attention at last. "Thank God I finally got your attention!"

"Can you make sense of this?" Sara cried furiously.

"Yes," Adri answered. "I can make sense of this..." she said softly. "They have identical DNA but different fingerprints..."

"This is no time for riddles..." Sara said while taking in a deep breath.

"What are twins?" I asked, raising an eyebrow...it still didn't make sense though.

"Nope," Grissom said as he took the paper from the table. "'What are triplets?' is the correct answer."

"Indeed," Adri said while smilng.

"Tha-tha-that's...you're a genuis..." Sara said.

"I'm not a genius..." Adri said modestly. "I just know what to think about..." she answered. I laughed and she blushed slightly at that. "I checked birth certificates, all three of the them were born in the same year but I did some further digging..."

"And?" Grissom asked.

"They were put into foster care and separated, their original birth certificates gone..." Adri said while handing Grissom a file.

"Good job Adriana," Grissom complimented.

"Thanks..." she said softly. "Pretrails will be a breeze..." Adri said as she sat down on the chair next to mine and relaxed at last. She was right actually...pretrails were easy and the case is going to court, the best friend and the "little sister" ended up guilty, admiting in the courtroom that they'd done it due to jealousy. We were outside celebrating, Gerard confused at the extraordinary talent Adri had and the determination I had since I moved to field work.

"Congratulations on a job well done you two," Grissom said with a proud smile. "I'll see you at the lab for shift in half an hour..." he finished saying while leaving.

"That doesn't give us much time to celebrate," I said with a small frown.

"How about some Ice Cream?" Adri offered. "My treat obviously," she finished saying.

"Sure," Sara said while smiling.

"No prob..." I said in agreement as we three left the courthouse with wide smiles and pride for what we do. After the dessert treat, we headed for the lab and changed for shift. Assignments had been scarce that night so I volunteered to help Adri out in DNA since she was backed up due to the Caroline case. For brief moments I would stop and take a good look and smile at her, I was smitten...but somehow that doesn't seemt to be the best word to describe it...

"Greggo!" Adri cried, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah?" I said meeting her eyes.

"I'm going to answer my cell outside..." Adri said while leaving. "I'll be back later," she finished saying as she exited the room without letting me talk. After a while I decided to let the computer play random songs from Adri's music library. At one point, I heard one of the Backstreet Boys's songs from their latest CD and thought about changing it... "Greg?" Adri's voice cried out weakly. I turned to see her at the doorway, shaken up and with tears in her eyes. I immediatly extended my hands and she ran to me, embracing me. My arms quickly completed the embrace, questions coming to my mind at all angles.

"What happened?" I asked as I slowly removed the gloves and tossed them to one side, one of my hands working its way through her hair.

"He just called..." Adri said softly. My hold on her increased, the source of her previous pain had come back to haunt her and I could feel my anger and concern rising.

"It's going to be all right..." I whispered while caressing her back gently. "We'll get him..." I reassured her.

"I hope so..." she whispered while crying heavily again. At that, I realized that if I could, I would grab this guy and beat him senseless for the pain he's caused Adri. I mean, why stain the beautiful smile? I could tell that it had been broken so many times before and I don't want it to do so anymore. How could he ignore the physical damage he caused Adri's frail body? She's so wonderful and it pains me to see her in pain. At that last thought, I felt a small smile come to my lips. I looked down at her and finally knew what my feelings towards Adri had begun to shape themselves as...

Adri

I don't know what made me go to Greg for comfort after the phone call...then again, my heart took over after I hung up. I remember stopping by in AV and muttering something before my tears came. Once they did, I just ran to the first person that came to mind...Greg...once I saw his form in DNA, working away, I knew he wouldn't mind. I weakly made my way over, not sure of weather surprising him or calling him. "Greg?" I heard my voice weakly call out...guess the latter choice won on this one. He turned to face me at the sound of my voice. At the sight of my tears, he stretched out his arms, welcoming me into them if I needed them and boy...did I...I ran to him, wrapping my arms around him tightly once I reached him, letting go...

"What happened?" he asked softly as his arms wrapped themselves around me. Pretty soon, I could feel one of his gloveless hands working its way through my hair.

"He just called," I said softly, trying my hardest to not let my voice crack. I could feel his hold on me grow and I found it real hard to believe...

"It's going to be all right..." I could hear him whisper as he gently rubbed my back. "We'll get him..."

"I hope so..." I whispered in return as I burst into tears again. I was so greatful that Greg had known what I needed. I kept crying until my sobs began to subside and were further apart in time. I could feel Greg's hold on me weaken slightly and I looked up to his eyes in confusion.

"Everyone's watching..." he whispered. "Well, all the techies anyway..."

"So?" I asked, then notcining briefly the song that was playing from my computer. 'Safest Place to Hide' by the BSB...was this coincidence? Or does it mean something deeper? "You said that you really didn't care much of what people think about you..." I said while looking away for a moment.

"Yeah..." he began as he tightened his hold on me again. "You got a point...but we should keep working, okay?"

"Yeah..." I said softly. "Thank you," I said with a smile and a blush as we separated from the embrace.

"No problem Adri..." he said while smiling at the blush. I coiuld see small traces of pink on his cheeks as he did this...was he blushing too?

"You serve as a very good teddy bear," I said with a smirk. He laughed as he turned away to work on another sample...or was it to avoid looking at me in the eyes to see the blush darken?

"Yeah..." he said while really working on something. "But I also serve as something else..." he said slyly.

"Don't go there Greg..." I said while leaving the room. "I'm going to talk to Archie for a sec...I need to ask him something..." I said while heading to the AV lab. I don't know what I'm going to do with Greg...he's so adorable and I can't seem to get it out of my head(A/N: anything in italics for the moment means counterthoughts, Adri's having another inner battle)..._you like him_...nah...I can't like him..._why not? He's been real good to you and he wants to be more than a friend to you...take the plunge..._no way! I can't! I don't want to lose our friendship..._you know you won't lose him...no matter how hard you try...admit it, you really like the guy..._nope! I refuse to give in! Me no likey! _Of course you do...you just hate to admit it...and you should...before you tear yourself up because you don't want to say it..._not true..._you know it is...and it's going to happen if you don't admit it to yourself..._I don't like him in that way so leave me alone! _We're not done here missy! You like Greggory Sanders and you're going to admit it to yourslef wether you like it or not Goddamnit! _I turned on my MP3 and placed the earbuds in my ears to shut off my own thoughts...I don't want to think about anyone right now...especially him...

* * *

I understand that this ending might be a little confusing...I've tried to make it as clear as possible for you guys...hope you manage to understand it...

I'd love to recieve more reviews...anyway, later people! Until the next one!


	14. Take Me Away

Hey people! I'm back from the land of the ill! Okay, enough fooling around, I'd first like to apologize for the prolonged update but last month nearly killed me...okay moving on, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the previous chapter: **Shelbers**, **csi-sam-sanders**, **Gregsgirl4ever**, **CatherineLouise **and **IluvLukeDuke**. Your kind reviews kept me going when I was sick and not that inspired. Okay, without further ado, onto the next chapter!

Me no own anything that's originally associated with the show...just Adri...

* * *

Chapter 14  
Take Me Away  
Greg

I was getting worried since Adri hadn't stopped by in DNA for an entire half hour. I decided to take a look around, hoping to find her. I ended up bumping into her, both of us falling to the ground due to the impact. I sat up quickly and she took her time to do so.

"You okay?" I asked, resisting the urge to hug her.

"Yeah," she said with a smile. "After being tossed to the ground so many times before...I've gotten used to it...besides, it was nearly painless..." she said with a smirk. "I know how to land."

"I'll keep that in mind for next time..." I said while getting up. I subconciously extended my hand and suddenly thinking that Adri wouldn't take it, like the other times this has happened, I started to take it back...slowly...when I felt her hand take mine for help. I tried my hardest to keep my surpise hidden as I pulled her up strongly, bumping into each other again, but this time we didn't fall.

"Wanna join me for break?" she asked nervously.

"Sure!" I cried trying to contain my exitement.

"We're not alone though," she said as she tunred around and began to head to the garage. I was slightly saddened at this. "It all started with Sara wanting me to teach her how to dance better...Nick and Warrick overheard and wanted to come too..."

"So you asked me because you didn't want me to feel left out?" I asked.

"Nope..." she answered as she turned to me briefly. "You told me that you wanted to see me dance again since I stopped a couple of months ago so...I asked because you really wanted to see me doing my favorite thing in the world..."

"I get the distintc feeling that I'm not the answer..." I said slyly.

"Right you are..." she said softly as she opened the garage door. "But you are definately someone I hold really close to my heart..."

"Really?" I asked in surprise. Adri smiled at me and I knew that it wasn't a lie. God she's beautiful...but I can't say that too often...

"Yae verily," she said with a small laugh. "'Kay...you guys want to learn to dance...right?" she asked with a nervous smile.

"Yes!" Nick cried for the trio.

"Okay guys...and girl..." she said, referring to Sara. "My guess is that you would like more of an explanation to the loud, repeating drum beat, latin music I listen to a lot lately," she began, everyone, including myself, nodded although I knew about it already. I didn't know how to dance it though...Adri had refused to teach me...or to dance at all...I guess it had something to do with her ex, Joseph...

"How do we start?" Nick asked.

"It's called Reggaeton and first off, the genre started in 1992 in Puerto Rico and since then, many if not all of the artists from that genre are Boricuas. It has nothing to do with Reggae Nick so get that out of your mind," she said with a smile. Warrick and Sara laughed at her wit and she kept going. "The basic step is a hip movement from either side to side, to a full rotation...lemme see what you got..." Adri said as she played a song. Nick tilted from side to side and Adri tried to contain her laugher...Sara however, had no luck and bursted out laughing. Warrick moved better than Nick...

"Nice moves Nick..." Sara said between laughs.

"Stop!" Adri cried as she walked over to him. "Let my hands guide you," she said as she placed her hands on his hips. Nick looked up to me and moved his brows suggestively and with a smirk. "Greg, please start the song again," she said softly. I did as asked, and she smiled at me before turning to Nick. She then began to move his hips to the beat and he seemed to get it. "Sara, now join him like I told you...your hands Nick are supposed to be at her hips and if they wander...feel free to slap him Sara," Adri said with a smile. "Warrick," she said while walking over to him. "Same thing...let me guide you at first...but still...not bad at all..."

"What about me?" I asked.

"In a moment..." Adri said as she guided Warrick's hips. "Sara, as soon as that song's done, you dance with Warrick the next one. Warrick, stop dancing and wait for Sara..."

"What about you?" he asked.

"I'm going to teach Greg..." she said as she took my hand and lead me over to the group.

"But you live with him...haven't you teached him?" Nick asked.

"Nope...and stop asking..." she said as she bit her lip. They hit a soft spot there...

"Okay..." Warrick said, dragging out the word a little.

"Instead of my hands guiding you...let your hips follow mine instead..." she said softly. "There's two ways for this...I forgot to mention. My back against your chest or "belly to belly" so to speak..." she explained, looking into my eyes. "You pick..."

"Nope..." I said rather firmly.

"All right then," she said as she pressed her body against mine, her eyes closed as she pressed her lips together, worried.

"Relax...it was just a phone call...I'm here with you right now...he can't reach you..." I whispered in her ear as my hands were placed at her hips. At once, her eyes opened and I noticed the tears that were forming in them. She weakly smiled as she proceeded to move to the beat, my hips followed hers instantly.

"That's all there is to it..." she said as on of her arms found its way around my neck for support. She smiled widely as I stopped hesitating to follow and our movement was as one. "You got it!" she cried happily. The song then came to a close and sha backed away slightly with a blush. "Moving on..." she said while looking at me briefly before turning to the others. Why hadn't she thanked me? She usually does...

"That was very interesting," Nick commented as Warrick and Sara separated.

"It's kinda like the bump and grind..." she began. "Just a little less bump and a little more grind..." she said jokingly. We laughed lightly as another song came up.

"You seemed a little tense when you were dancing with Greg..." Sara commented. "When was the last time you dance with someone who swept you off your feet?"

"Some time ago..." Adri responded, trying to read Sara's next move. "You want me to really dance...don't you?"

"Yeah..." Warrick answered for Sara.

"I'll be your partner," I offered. "That is...if you need it..."

"Sure..." Adri said with a shy grin. "Just try to..."

"You don't think I can sweep you off your feet?" I asked slyly.

"Yeah..." she said in the same manner as I.

"You just watch..." I said as she headed to one corner of the room. She then unzipped her jeans and began to pull them down. "What are you doing?"

"Old habits die hard..." she said as she threw the pants to one side, she had been wearing shorts underneath her jeans the entire time...

"You're a sneaky one..."

"Nope..." she said as she put a lengthy, very flowy skirt that matched her light blue tank. "I'm a dancer...end of story," she said as she walked over to me. "This song has a salsa like groove attached to it. When I step forward, you step back and when you step forward, I step back...get it?" she asked, explaining the basics. I already knew a little thanks to her father but she didn't know that part and I wasn't planning on telling her anything either...

"Yes ma'am," I said with a smile as Adri nodded at Sara, sign for her to start the song again. "We just wait until the beat kicks up..." I said as she smoothed out her skirt.

"Exactly," she said as she looked up. The song was just about to kick into high gear(meaning that the beat Adri was talking about is coming up) and I wrapped an arm around her waist while taking her right hand in mine. She looked at me in surprise as we started to dance. Her face then changed into one of remembrance and knowing what I had to do, I spun her and let her go for a while. Her hips claimed a life of thier own for a moment and I joined her at just the right time, the others gaping at us...mostly at Adri but I had something to do with it...it was really wierd dancing with her this way...it all pieced together so easily that it slightly scared me. The song finally was coming to an end and when it did, I dipped Adri as low as I could, her hair brushing the garage floor. She bit her lip and opened her eyes, meeting mine instantly. I smiled at her and she weakly smiled before I straightened her up. She then walked out, muttering something and acting in some sort of trance.

"I guess you did it..." Warrick commented.

"You swept her so much she's speechless..." Nick added.

"Now you're just foolin' around..." I said while picking up her things. "I only helped her remember how much she loves to dance...I did nothing else..."

"Doesn't look like it," Sophia added as she came in with the ALS. "You should get out of here before Ecklie sees you."

"Adri has permission to dance here..." I said as I picked up her jeans. "The director granted it for her and he said that if she wanted to teach us a little step or two, she could...just during break..." I added.

"And you know this...?" Sophia inquired.

"She told me..." I said while heading to DNA to give Adri back her things.

Adri

He actually did it...he swept me off my feet. I mean, the rush, the feel of his hands on me as we danced, his heart racing as we moved...it brought back so much...it reminded me of why I love to dance. I couldn't believe how it all happened...it was like magic...or he learned how dance salsa from someone else...

"Here's your stuff..." Greg began as he came in. I noticed that he was carrying my jeans and I'd forgotten that I was still in a skirt.

"Thanks," I said as I got off the chair I was sitting in during my moment meditating in DNA. "It was real sweet of you to bring these back."

"It was nothing," he said as he remained at the doorway. I just knew what he was waiting for...

"And thanks for what you said earlier," I said with a shy smile. "It totally made me feel better..."

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah...I didn't say anything then so I wouldn't have to explain..." I explained, pardon the redundance of course.

"Right," he said while smacking his forehead, hard. "I forgot..."

"It's okay," I said sweetly while taking off my shorts, pulled up my jeans and took off my skirt after my jeans were securely in place.

"You do know that it's kind of a turn on when you do that..." Greg said slyly and with a huge smirk on his lips.

"Yeah..." I said, imitating his tone. "Is that a problem?"

"Might be..." he began as the printer beeped, assuring me that the tox results for Sara's case were done. "Sara's in the break room, tired."

"Thanks..." I said while heading over to the printer and taking the paper and looking at it thoroughly. "No sense..." I said while walking out of DNA, my arm lightly touching Greg's as I left. He then quickly grabbed my wrist and turned me so we were eye to eye.

"I had fun..." he said with a full blowm smile. Knowing what he meant, I smiled in return before talking.

"Me too..." I said softly.

"By the way," he said while letting go of me. "Sorry for that...I didn't mean to hurt you..."

"I'm sure you didn't..." I said while smiling again. "It's real sweet of you to care so much..." he smiled and I could see the faintest pink decorate his cheeks. I couldn't believe it...he was blushing! Just wait until Nicky hears this...it's going to be halarious. I finally reached the break room to see Sara stretched out on the couch, trying to sleep. She sat up at the sound of someone coming in and saw me.

"Well?" she asked, waiting for my results.

"Unless the guy can OD on just .1 mil of fenasteride(a/n: I just made that up...)..." I began. "Cause of death is unsubstantiated by my results..."

"Let me see that," Sara began. I was about to take a step forward to hand it over when Greg took the paper out of my hands and gave it to her. "Thanks..."

"Sounds to me like the guy was underdosed..." he said as he walked over to the fridge.

"That's not even a word..." I began as I began to serve myself so coffee, hoping that Hodges hadn't made it. "I think..."

"I agree with you Adri," Sara said while looking the paper over again. "I'm tired..."

"Coffee wearing off?" I inquered.

"Yeah...Grissom keeps calling me in..."

"And you just can't say no..."

"Do you read minds?"

"Nope!" Greg answered for me.

"I read faces and other expresions..." I explained.

"Yeah but she would love to read minds...although she already knows what I'm thinking..." Greg said with a smirk.

"Please save the carnal thoughts to yourself..." I said while taking a sip of coffee. Definately not Hodge's brew...

"I want food," Sara said without thinking. I let out a deep sigh and headed to the fridge. I pulled out one of my food containers, opened it up, heated it in the microwave and once it was done, presented it to Sara with a fork and a bottle of water.

"Here...this can help..." I said softly. She looked up and saw the meal I was offering her, she eyed curiously. "There's no meat in it...I promise," I said with a reasurring smile. She breathed in the scent and reluctantly took it. She slowly took a first bite and after chewing it for a while, swallowed, smiling.

"This is great," she said while taking another bite.

"Glad you think so," I said while turning to Greg who was smiling. "Enjoy..." I said while turning to leave. "I'll see you guys later!" I said as I began to head to DNA.

Shift was finally done and Greg and I (as usual) took my car home. The ride was quite silent but then again...we didn't have much to talk about since we were in different ranks at the lab. We finally got home and Greg parked my car(he drove today...don't ask...) and we both headed to the kitchen to eat breakfast. I started working on the stove and batter as Greg passed me the ingridients for our preselected meal, pancakes.

"You really did as you told me..." I said while finishing up the batter.

"What?" Greg asked, snapping out of whatever train of thoughts he was in.

"You did sweep me off my feet earlier," I said while looking up from the mixing bowl and and focusing on him. He was right next to me, at the stove, waiting for me to give him the batter.

"I did?" he squeaked, looking at me. I nodded with a grin and gave him the bowl.

"You did..."

* * *

Okay...I'm a little unsure about this chapter and I dunno why...my beta says that it's fine but anyway, there it is...hope you enjoyed. Until next chapter people!

Up next- **Save me**


	15. Falling, Literally

I'M SORRY! I'm so sorry I've taken so long to update! I'm really sorry, I could just start writing all these reasons why I didn't update but then that really would be pathetic...dunno why. Anyway, the original name for this chpater was 'Save Me' but due to the events that occurr here, I decided to change it. I actually like this chapter a lot and I hope you guys do too. At any rate, I know it's shorter than the usual updates but I wanted to end the chapter there...so moving on. I hope you like it and Happy Valentine's Day!

Me no own CSI, just Adri for now...

* * *

Chapter 15  
Falling(Literally...)  
Greg

I was too busy looking at Adri to pay attention to whatever she said...but she wasn't talking so I didn't have to stress. I had the time to look at every detail that stood out for me God knows how long before I realized how much I care...her smile is one of her best features. Her hair was up as always but I didn't complain much anymore, she has her way of doing things which eeriely, make me smile no matter what the situation is. Her eyes were focused on the bowl and the measuring cup, making sure that nothing was out of place or proportion. My eyes then landed on her lips, which weren't the fullest but seemed to suit her in the oddest way. I then saw her lips move, and I snapped out of my thoughts, too late apperently since she has just stopped talking.

"What?" I asked, hoping that she wouldn't mind my getting lost in my thoughts.

"You did sweep me off my feet earlier," Adri replied as she looked up from the mixing bowl and met my gaze.

"I did?" I squeaked, louder than I originally intended. She nodded with the sweetest grin and gave me the bowl.

"You did," she said with a sure tone and headed over to pick out the plates and glasses. "You're going home tomorrow?"

"Yeah," I said while making the first pancake.

"I'll take your stuff to your place...I'm not supposed to clock in tomorrow..."

"Why?"

"I put in too much overtime..." Adri explained setting the table. "I'm going to work the lab for free since we're going to be a tech short...Jaquie's in a convention..."

"Oh..." I said as I flipped the pancake in the air and caught it effortlessly.

"Nice catch."

"Thanks..."

"Do you mind?"

"About you taking my stuff back?"

"Yeah, that."

"Not at all..."

"All right then," Adri began as I set a plate with two pancakes before her. "We'll finish planning everything tonight at dinner before work..."

"Deal," I said as I sat down accross from her. "Now eat!"

"Yes sir!" Adri replied with a mock salute, causing us to laugh. We proceeded to eat and I took the chance to every so often, steal a glace at her, smiling inside.

"So..." I began, trying to think of something to say.

"Yeah?" Adri replied, looking up and smiling.

"How's dancing?" I asked, thinking back on what happened at shift.

"I-I-I..." Adri stuttered. "I haven't been back to the studio..." she said softly.

"You should Dri..." I replied in the same tone. "You've got skill and you should put it to good use. Besides, I find it sexy that you dance..."

"You had to sneak a line in there somewhere, didn't you?"

"Yeah..." I said, realizing my mistake.

"And I know what usually follows that..."

"I'm guessing that eventhough I'm not asking, the answers no..."

"Actually...you're wrong this time..."

"What!" I cried, looking her way. She had the shyest smile on her face as she nodded. "You mean that you..."

"Yes Greg," Adri said while getting up and walking over to me. "I would love to go out with you..."

"Don't mind my asking but...why?"

"I just can't deny you the oportunity any longer..." she answered. "You really want to give it a shot and don't let me stop you anymore...besides...you're too sexy to pass up a date any longer..."

"Oh?" I inquired.

"Yes...now bed...I'm tired..."

"Aw..."

"Keep thinking about the date Greggy...nighty night..." Adri said while making her way upstairs. Once I was sure to hear the door to her room close, I let loose. I jumped, danced, to put it simply, I acted like a complete idiot. I couldn't believe what had happened, I even pinched myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. After that, I let out a deep sigh as I headed up to my room. Things are looking up now...and I can't help but smile. I showered and went to bed with the same smile, drifting off to a peaceful slumber...or so I thought...

Adri

The door to my room opened and I quickly sat up, thinking it was him and was relieved to see Greg instead. He seemed shaken, as if he'd just woken up. I checked the clock and saw that it was half past three already, that's funny...Greg usually doesn't wake up until five...

"Yo Greggo!" I called, getting his attention. "You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine..." he said, letting his voice trail off.

"You sure don't look it..." I said while getting out of bed. "You sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"I'm sure," he said while smiling at me adorably...he's so cute when he does that...

"Okay then?" I said while walking over to him.

"Yeah," he said while kissing the corner of my mouth. "I'm fine," he said while walking down the hall to the game room. I stared after him in surprise...did he just do that? I stood there, my hand at the very spot where his lips grazed my skin. The memory sent various emotions down my spine, they were completely different than anything I've felt before... "Yo Dri!" yelled out a voice.

"Aiee!" I shrieked as I fell to the ground, Greg's yell scaring me beyond belief. Instead of meeting the carpet, my body landed in Greg's arms and we both fell to the ground.

"You okay?" he asked, his breath tickling my ear.

"Yeah..." I said while relaxing. "You scared me...that's all..."

"This is comfortable," Greg said slyly.

"Well, I'm sorry but I'm getting up...I have a hankerin' for some chocolate," I said as I tried to get up but couldn't thanks to Greg's tight grip. "Come on Greg," I pleaded. "Please!"

"Fine," he said as he pushed me up. I turned to him and saw that he got up as well. "So...I was thinking about our date..."

"And?" I asked, wondering if he was backing out. After all his persisting, he's going to go back on his word now?

"I was thinking that we should do it on our next night off which is by the end of the week," he began. "Just something simple, dinner and a movie but not here..."

"I get ya," I said with a smile. "Sounds perfect."

"Great!" Greg exclaimed with a small smile as we headed downstairs. He quickly claimed the kitchen for dinner and I decided to feed Colin. After that was done, I decided to take a shower before work so I ran upstairs to get that done. Once it was, I made my way downstairs, various aromas invading my nasal passages, the most distinct of them all was chocolate. I ran to the kitchen, not paying attention to where I was going bumping right into Greg. Whatever he was holding started to fly and spilled all over us. I slipped and landed on Greg's lap, who had fallen before I did. One look at each other's faces was all it took to send us into fits of laughter.

"I'm so sorry Greg," I said between laughs.

"It's okay..." he said softly as our gazes met. Our laughter was dying down and I realized that we were covered in chocolate...more specifically, brownie batter. I blushed slightly at the thought of him doing such a nice thing for me and he quickly took the opportunity to smile back. I noticed a bit of batter dripping from his nose and I pressed my lips lightly to the tip of said body part, tasting what was supposed to be the brownie mix...mm...not bad at all. I tried to pull back to where I had been sitting originally but Greg's hand at the back of my neck kept me right were I was, my face near his, our lips dangerously close. My gaze shifted briefly from his eyes to his lips as he slowly leaned in. Then, he stopped and just looked at me with those brown eyes of his. Our breathing matched at one point as our staring contest neared an end. I felt his hand at the back of my neck and I was just speechless...or so I thought...

"Yummy," I said slyly with a smirk, referring to the chocolate. He quickly covered my lips with his in a fiery kiss. I couldn't think about anything except for the man of the opposite sex that was just kissing me at this time. I quickly gave back every kiss he gave, letting it all out in the open, letting my attraction towards him finally surface and loosing myself in his kiss. This feels incredible...I won't regret this one bit...

Nick

I was calling Adri and Greg to make sure they made it to the lab early since this morning, they left ahead of time. They quickly picked up the phone at the other end of the line, barely letting it ring. On their end of the line I could hear strange noises and the ocassional female giggle. They couldn't be...I mean then how did the phone get off the hook? I thought that the proper thing would be to hang up but I couldn't do it. Instead, I found myself yelling their names into the phone, hoping that they'd hear me. After a while, the noises ceased and light laughter was heard.

"Hello?" A female voice said shakily to the phone.

"Adri?" I asked, wondering if that was her.

"Hey Nick," she said with relief. "What's up?"

"PUT GREG ON THE PHONE!" I yelled.

"Uh...right..." she said softly.

"Hey Nick," Greg started.

"What the hell were you two doing?" I cried, wondering if they had done what I was thinking.

"Nothing," he answered quickly.

"Greg!" called out Adri's voice in the background. "You're a messy eater! Help me clean up the mess we made!" I could feel my eyes widen at the words and shook the perverted thoughts away.

"I'll be right there...we'll talk later Nick," he said as he hung up, not lettting me say a thing. Now I really can't help but wonder what the hell they were doing there...they couldn't have been...I mean...they aren't dating...not that I know off...but then, why would Adri call Greg a messy eater?

* * *

I just love that ending! I can just Nick going O.o and looking at thephone...I was laughing a lot...anyway,yet again, I'm sorry for the long delay, hopeyou enjoyed and if you could, I'd love a review!

Laters!

Laski


End file.
